At a meeting to promote the teaching of leadership a couple months ago, I saw several proposals to support women pursuing leadership but none for men. I sensed that others there felt that since men held nearly all corporate and government positions of authority that men had greater access to positions of leadership. I didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up, but I found a few perspectives missing. Advantages existing for[…] Keep reading →
It sucks when you’re playing a team sport and you get shut down trying to cut to get open, the other team scores on you, you throw into an interception or some mistake like that. Few of us enjoy admitting to faults, so we often make excuses that the problem was with your team mates, the sun, the equipment, or something out of your control. When you run drills or[…] Keep reading →
Join me at Princeton’s tech meetup, July 16, 6:45pm! The title of my talk is “8 Steps from No Idea to Funding.” I hope to see you there. From the announcement: Topic: 8 Steps from No Idea to Funding Speaker: Joshua Spodek 6:45 – Arrival – Snacks, Pizza and Networking. 7:15 – Introduction / Announcements by the organizers. 7:20 – 7:30 Apply for Startup Demo / Pitches (ONE MINUTE each) 7:30 - 8 Steps[…] Keep reading →
[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] I just got off the phone with a client who was preparing for a call with someone important to help her. She was nervous because of his status[…] Keep reading →
Entrepreneurs want to improve the world. They want to solve your problem so much that you prefer their solution to your money so that you give it to them. If every entrepreneur is trying to improve things, why doesn’t entrepreneurship finish? The same could be asked for business in general. As times change, solutions become problems. We may have collectively created more material prosperity, but in terms of happiness and[…] Keep reading →
People often ask me if I use my physics education today. You face similar questions from others, I’m sure. You probably ask them of yourself. Nobody’s life follows a straight path from birth to where they are. I loved the field, but I don’t publish or do physics experiments. I still love the field and can’t believe everyone doesn’t study it more in school. But I teach and coach leadership[…] Keep reading →
I keep hearing people say that if only they lived in a time of greater crisis, they could have achieved more. They look at George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, and other famous leaders and notice they emerged through crises. I read a Harvard Business Review article implying people have to go through crucibles to develop as leaders. You don’t have to overcome adversity to achieve a lot.[…] Keep reading →