I found a problem last year teaching entrepreneurship at NYU. Most students I worked with were born outside the U.S. and many wanted to become entrepreneurs. As much as they wanted to start businesses, many of our conversations had this phrase in them: … but I have to get a job with a big company to sponsor my visa. Following on the last year’s successful Women in Entrepreneurship panel, I[…] Keep reading →

Hustlers and clowns are two types of business people I’ve found. Actually, they’re everywhere, not just business, but I’ll talk about them in a business context. Hustlers Hustlers do what it takes to do the job by learning and meeting people’s needs. I love working with hustlers, at least the type I mean. The student who sold an apple as a challenge for five dollars and made the buyer feel she[…] Keep reading →

I found a problem that I think helps no one last year teaching entrepreneurship at NYU, also as a mentor. Nearly all the students I worked with were born outside the U.S. They picked my course, “Entrepreneurial Marketing and Sales” or picked me as a mentor largely because they liked entrepreneurship. Many wanted to become entrepreneurs. As much as they wanted to start businesses, many of our conversations had this[…] Keep reading →

In motivation, influence, and persuasion, sales and leadership overlap a lot. Sales is also the most common route to CEO, I’ve heard, so if you want to lead, you benefit from learning sales. Below is a video interviewing a guy who is incredible at sales. He sold an apple for five dollars, with the buyer believing she got a discount! My retelling the story about it led to a friend[…] Keep reading →

People ask me if there’s value to learning leadership if you don’t plan to lead. Yes, at least with the style of leadership I teach, based in self-awareness and emotional skills. It helps across many areas in your life, especially your relationships and self-awareness. I’m not sure if command-and-control or some other styles help as much. Here are six reasons, not comprehensive, that come to mind first. 1. Leadership skills[…] Keep reading →

This Saturday, August 23, 10am-5pm, I’ll lead a seminar with General Assembly on leadership in New York City. Register here, you’ll be glad you did. This is the seminar that led to this testimonial: Josh, you may be interested to know I took out an Associate who will be working on my team and used your technique. She teared up, saying, no one ever asked her these questions and she[…] Keep reading →

“My manager sucks. How do I get them to manage me better?” People ask me this question all the time. The words differ for each person but the concept is the same. Probably every client I’ve coached, no matter what issue they started with, also wanted to work on improving their situation with their manager. Having coached enough on it, I’m putting the main concepts here. If I see demand[…] Keep reading →