Leadership

Medium awarded me “Top Writer” in three categories

Art / Education / Exercises / Leadership / Tips

Medium awarded me “Top Writer” in three categories

I'm honored that Medium awarded my column "Top Writer" in three categories. "Great Work, Joshua Spodek. Congratulations! You are now a top writer in Leadership." "Great Work, Joshua Spodek. Congratulations! You are now a top writer in Inspiration." "Great Work, Joshua Spodek. Congratulations! You are now a top writer in Self Improvement." You can do what I did to earn it I wrote my book, Leadership Step by Step, to walk you through the steps of being able to inspire others and lead them through their self-improvement. I didn't write it "just" to engage you with inspirational writing, but to give you direction to do everything I've done for myself but for you. I judge my writing by how much it leads others to find…

January 28, 2017

Stellar reviews of other courses I’ve taught like Leadership Step by Step

Awareness / Education / Entrepreneurship / Exercises / Leadership

Stellar reviews of other courses I’ve taught like Leadership Step by Step

Pre-order Leadership Step by Step on Amazon! or Register for a free webinar on the course! Reviews of Other Courses of Joshua Spodek Below are anonymous reviews by people who did the progression of exercises of other courses that I teach in the same style as Leadership Step by Step. They range from first year undergraduates to graduate students to adult learners to adult clients. (Not all are native English speakers.) -- "This is one of the greatest classes I have ever taken. It was engaging, thought provoking, challenging, and fun. Josh is an incredible teacher, mentor, and friend to everyone in the class who is passionate about the subject matter. If I could take this class all over again, I would" -- "10/10 would…

January 27, 2017

Reviews of Leadership Step by Step: the Course

Awareness / Education / Exercises / Leadership / My Favorite Posts

Reviews of Leadership Step by Step: the Course

Leadership Step by Step Below are anonymous reviews by people who did the book's exercises. They range from first year undergraduates to graduate students to adult learners to clients in their 60s who have sold businesses. (Not all are native English speakers.) "This course really changed by definition of "Leadership." Joshua is an amazing professor. He taught this class in a way that we learned about ourselves and then to understand others. He taught us how to find the real emotions and beliefs behind someone's behavior and use that emotion to lead them and make them feel understood." -- "I truly hope other NYU students have the privilege of taking this course. It is the exact material that students of my generation need in order…

January 26, 2017

Blurbs and Endorsements for Leadership Step by Step

Creativity / Education / Exercises / Leadership / Models / My Favorite Posts

Blurbs and Endorsements for Leadership Step by Step

Reviews of Leadership Step by Step By Joshua Spodek Buy Leadership Step by Step on Amazon! https://youtu.be/3n2gecJha6o Great leaders aren't born with a 'leadership gene'; great leaders develop the necessary skills and gain confidence through practice and hard work. In Leadership Step by Step Joshua Spodek presents a thoughtful approach to becoming a highly effective leader that emphasizes the importance of experiential learning. It will serve as a valuable resource for leaders at all levels in any profession. Indeed, Joshua's practical exercises will help prospective, as well as experienced leaders, to master their craft and ultimately to succeed in leading and inspiring others in their various pursuits. General Lloyd J. Austin III, United States Secretary of Defense Joshua is changing the game for leadership development…

January 24, 2017

Art / Creativity / Exercises / Habits / Leadership / SIDCHAs

Reflections on writing

One of my online communities had a thread on writing a book this year. It led me to reflect on writing in a way that might help someone where I was before starting to write. I consider what I wrote relevant to practicing any craft or developing one's passion. Here's what I wrote: Last year was my big year for writing and finishing my book, Leadership Step by Step. It launches on Amazon a month from tomorrow. I got my first hardcovers from the printer a couple weeks ago. Last week I learned that Booklist is giving it a starred review. It has blurbs from bestsellers, top TED talkers, and luminaries like Dan Pink Marshall Goldsmith Seth Godin Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Frances Hesselbein…

January 21, 2017

Habits / Leadership / SIDCHAs / Stories

Stealing Happiness Back from Comfort

I guest posted today with the Lead Change Group, whose vision and mission are: Our Vision The Lead Change Group is a global, virtual community dedicated to encouraging and showcasing great ideas and helping leaders in their own professional growth. Mission We will encourage, energize and equip one another to leading change — in ourselves, in others, and in our communities. We want to be a resourceful, supportive community sharing and multiplying powerful leadership content. They have monthly themes, and this month's was "five thieves of happiness" (control, conceit, consumption, coveting, and comfort), after one of its member's book's title. My story, "Stealing Happiness Back from Comfort," began Stealing Happiness Back from Comfort The winter I renovated my apartment was one of the coldest I…

January 20, 2017

Stop Unwanted Beliefs From Sabotaging Your Self-Improvement: Read my guest post in Tanveer Naseer’s blog

Awareness / Leadership / Models / Tips

Stop Unwanted Beliefs From Sabotaging Your Self-Improvement: Read my guest post in Tanveer Naseer’s blog

Tanveer Naseer is the recipient of several awards and recognitions as one of the top thinkers/writers in the leadership sphere, including being recognized byÂ Inc. Magazine as one of the Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts, earning a #3 ranking on HR Examiner's Top 25 Online Influencers in Leadership, and being consistent ranked on numerous lists as one of Top 15 Leadership Bloggers in the world. He read an advanced copy of my book and asked me to write a guest post for his blog. I wish we could have recorded our conversation about leadership, writing, and teaching. I agreed and my guest post just came out. Check it out! It begins Stop Unwanted Beliefs From Sabotaging Your Self-Improvement We're approaching February and gyms are starting…

January 18, 2017

Listen to a wonderful interview of me by Sami Honkonen of Boss Level podcast

Exercises / Freedom / Leadership / Models / Perception

Listen to a wonderful interview of me by Sami Honkonen of Boss Level podcast

Sami Honkonen records Boss Level Podcast Interviews with interesting people doing awesome things Boss Level is a podcast on people and organizations aiming for the boss level. Boss level is the status a person or an organization achieves by making a better quality of life for themselves and others by doing what they need to do regardless of all the haters and obstacles out there. I love his interview of me, "Joshua Spodek and seven years of burpees," which he posted today. If you like my material and, especially, if you're curious about my long-term direction and goals for it---my passion, or one of them, for those who've done my book and leadership course's Unit 4: Leading Others exercises---he brings them up at the end.…

January 17, 2017

Education / Leadership / Nature

Op/ed Friday: How climate change scientists are failing climate change initiatives

I teach leadership and I am passionate about reducing global warming. Global warming is a global effect meaning changing it will require global efforts, meaning changing behavior on a global scale. Changing behavior is leadership. In other words, changing global warming patterns requires leadership, no matter what technological solutions we find. Global warming leadership: is there any? I've been asking people lately to name effective leaders---people achieving their goals by motivating and influencing people---in the field of global warming. I recommend pausing reading to think of names yourself. After you guess, I'll tell you who is leading most effectively by far in global warming. No one has come up with the answer, but everyone, after I told them my answer, has agreed. The second most…

January 13, 2017

Booklist starred review for my book, Leadership Step by Step: “This is practical training made perfect. Bravo!”

Education / Leadership

Booklist starred review for my book, Leadership Step by Step: “This is practical training made perfect. Bravo!”

I was pleasantly surprised by my publisher, Amacom, yesterday to learn that my book, Leadership Step by Step, received a starred review from Booklist. Booklist will publish the full review in their February 1st issue, so I can't quote the whole thing, but I'll quote what Amacom quoted: This is practical training made perfect. Bravo! For those who don't know much about Booklist, like I didn't before looking them up, I'll quote this Slate article, "Book Report:How four magazines you've probably never read help determine what books you buy": Look up a book on Amazon.com, and the first media review you see isn't from a well-known book review outlet such as the New York Times or Washington Post but from Publishers Weekly. Scroll down, and…

January 12, 2017

Take my leadership course in person this spring at NYU, Wednesdays starting February 8

Education / Events / Leadership

Take my leadership course in person this spring at NYU, Wednesdays starting February 8

For those who live near New York and want to improve how they lead others (and themselves), you have multiple options this spring. Besides my online course, I am offering my leadership course at NYU this spring at NYU's School of Professional Studies Wednesdays 6pm - 9pm February 8 - May 10 (14 sessions) Here is the syllabus Register here! Limited seats available (13 last I checked) Student reviews from my courses The course will show you why my courses get reviews like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxo-msa9dGQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnblmP_VlHg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzm7iL6reFY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoL4zWav8Hw Register here! Limited seats available (13 last I checked) "This is one of the greatest classes I have ever taken. It was engaging, thought provoking, challenging, and fun. Josh is an incredible teacher, mentor, and friend to everyone…

January 11, 2017

Exercises / Inc.com / Leadership / Tips

Broaden and Deepen Your Network Using This Simple Hack

Today on Inc., my fellow columnist, Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likable Media, followed up on my recent article about sending gratitude emails. He pointed out how the practice works beyond what we expected, since he promotes gratitude exercises too. Read the article to see how the practice led us to meet and immediately and easily connect because of it. In particular, we found ourselves in the middle of a tighter circle of mutual connections of valuable people than either expected. The article, "Broaden and Deepen Your Network Using This Simple Hack," begins Broaden and Deepen Your Network Using This Simple Hack What you can learn from leadership professor Joshua Spodek How often do you see a practice you love and teach taken to a whole…

January 10, 2017

They’re here! … My first hardcovers

Education / Leadership

They’re here! … My first hardcovers

The pictures speak for themselves.

January 4, 2017

What You Thought Graduates of Elite Schools Have, But Probably Don’t

Education / Entrepreneurship / Leadership

What You Thought Graduates of Elite Schools Have, But Probably Don’t

I guest posted today in SuccessVets.com, "What You Thought Graduates of Elite Schools Have, But Probably Don't." I wrote the piece for service-members transitioning to civilian leadership, but it applies to many people who worry about competing with graduates of elite schools. The guest post begins: It's easy to look at people who went to school while you served and think they're ahead of you, which can cause anxiety. As a professor with an MBA and PhD who teaches and coaches leadership and entrepreneurship at elite schools like Columbia Business School and New York University, I want to point out many skills they often lack that you might have assumed they had. My goal is to help you get hired, funded, or promoted by positioning…

January 3, 2017

Do Leaders Need Emotional Intelligence?

Check out my interview in Joe Byerly's blog, From the Green Notebook, today, "Do Leaders Need Emotional Intelligence?" It's a fascinating blog with many perspectives on leadership, mainly from a military perspective. As you know from my posts, I consider active, experiential learning essential to face and overcome the social and emotional challenges inherent to leading others, and military training essentially involves active, experiential parts classrooms and readings don't. The interview begins, Joe: I've heard the term "emotional intelligence" mentioned in a lot of leadership conversations over the last couple of years, but what exactly does it mean?Â Josh: Let me start with some examples. Has your mind ever drifted while someone told you a story and she stops and says, "Is everything alright? You…

January 2, 2017

Listen to John Ramstead of Eternal Leadership’s podcast of me

Audio / Leadership

Listen to John Ramstead of Eternal Leadership’s podcast of me

I was honored to be a guest of John Ramstead---Former Navy Fighter Pilot, Leadership Coach, international Podcast Host and Author of Top 100 Leadership Blog for Executives, Managers and CEOs--in his Eternal Leadership podcast, which he posted today. Here's the link to the podcast. Here's John's podcast page image: Here's John: A few words about this extraordinary man: What sets John Ramstead apart from other coaches? His extraordinary military record as a Navy fighter pilot and naval aviation instructor His experience on the executive teamÂ of threeÂ successful start-ups as well as the management team for a Fortune 100 company His management of sales and operations responsible for over $100 million of revenue per year His creation of twoÂ non-profits devoted to the causes important to him: Colorado…

December 30, 2016

Education / Leadership

The success of leaders grading themselves

Some teachers ask students to grade peers. Some ask for student input on grading. I go further. Radical self-grading I have students in my leadership courses grade themselves---not just give some input. They choose their grades. Moreover, I tell them that I will defend to the administration that they deserve them even if they all give themselves A's. I also add that this loyalty and defense requires backup from them. I don't just ask them their opinion at the end of the course. I have them write me at the beginning of the course what grade they target for themselves and what level of work they believe would earn that grade. Throughout the course, I have them grade their work on each exercise. I give…

December 26, 2016

A leadership lesson Hillary Clinton supporters could learn from Nelson Mandela

A few weeks ago, while working on a video shoot waiting for the people to be recorded to arrive, a friend mentioned how he expected the women to be more likely to wear makeup. A woman on the shoot called him misogynist. I asked what was misogynist about what he said. She said the expectation that women had to wear makeup. I pointed out that he didn't say anything about obligation. She repeatedly called him misogynist, showing no willingness to consider other perspectives or even listen, as far as I could tell. Fast forward to now. I'm catching up on Nelson Mandela's autobiography. I started reading it earlier this year and loved it, but could only read a chapter here and there. At 600 pages,…

December 25, 2016

Inc.com / Leadership

Leaders Listen: Crossing the Political Divide

My article on Inc.com yesterday, "Leaders Listen: Crossing the Political Divide," followed up my recent post, "If You Voted for Trump, Let's Meet," which I recommend reading first. It sets up contacting people who supported Trump, a group barely represented around lower Manhattan, especially at NYU, where I teach. Yesterday's post began: Leaders Listen: Crossing the Political Divide What happened when I spoke to people on the opposite pole of everyone around me. Manhattan voted nearly 9:1 for Hillary Clinton--lower Manhattan, where I live and work, probably more so. New York University, where I teach leadership, entrepreneurship, and sales, probably yet more still. Wednesday after the election, the neighborhood was eerily quiet, like someone had died. Soon after, students demonstrated, chanting, "Not my president." To…

December 22, 2016

Entrepreneurship / Leadership

Secret Entourage Academy interviews me on entrepreneurship and leadership

Secret Entourage is a group that supports and promotes entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. I met them through my friend Jordan Harbinger, who invited me to North Korea. They interview me. If you like my style, the interview tells you a lot about me and my development. I recommend listening! (please excuse the video quality) Watch Secret Entourage Academy's interview of Joshua Spodek here. From their notes: About: Joshua Spodek decided to major in Physics after nearly giving up his love of science and math due to bullying through high school. After earning his PhD, he felt as if the more education one received, the less career options became available. He realized the corporate lifestyle and working under someone else wasn't for him. His first business venture…

December 20, 2016

Education / Entrepreneurship / Leadership

Questions before you lead or teach

In his recent post, "Make the Work Worth Doing," Chris Lehmann, founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, lists questions tremendously useful for leaders or anyone who wants to engage others and create meaning in their work. His perspective reinforces how important how you lead or teach is compared to what you do or teach. If you think you can't learn from a high school principal how to improve your skills to lead, engage, enable, and create meaning for others, how many of the following questions from his post (edited to include leadership contexts) would you answer yes to in the past few times you led or taught others? Does the student or person you lead have theÂ choice to personalize the work to reflect their…

December 19, 2016

Education / Leadership / Models

The leader as accompanist

The mainstream view of the leader is as the quarterback or command-and-control general. It's changing, but those views seem the most common. Different models for leading work better for different situations. Alternative models that I find work more often are that The leader serves his or her followers, see "Lessons in leadership from Frances Hesselbein, part 1" The leader is like a gardener, see "Jack Welch's Gardening Model of Leadership" Another model I've used in teaching that applies to leadership comes from one of my physics professors who has become a friend since the early 90s. He plays piano and often accompanies singers. He views the singer he accompanies as the main performer and the role of the accompanist to make the singer look good…

December 15, 2016

Art / Awareness / Inc.com / Leadership / Nature

Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, and Trent Reznor’s Important but Flawed Statement

My Inc.com article today, "Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, and Trent Reznor's Important but Flawed Statement," began Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, and Trent Reznor's Important but Flawed Statement Before the Flood brings global warming to your living room and Hollywood. But does it lead to changing the behavior that causes it? Leonardo Di Caprio played Romeo, the lead in Titanic, then the highest grossing film ever, and won an Oscar fighting a bear. Martin Scorsese is the most Oscar-nominated director alive, having revolutionized film making and directing over half a century. Their movies earned 31 Oscar nominations and grossed $1.3 billion. Trent Reznor has won an Oscar and Grammy for his scores. Time named him one of the world's most influential people. Fisher Stevens, with a…

December 13, 2016

Inc.com / Leadership / Tips

Want Results? 29 Ways to Support Your Teams

My post on Inc.com today "Want Results? 29 Ways to Support Your Teams," begins Want Results? 29 Ways to Support Your Teams To achieve more or rise faster, you need great teams. Teams do as well as you support them. Do you support yours enough? If you want to achieve more for yourself, to do more for your firm, or to rise to the top, teamwork will always beat what you can do with your two hands. And any team, no matter how talented its superstars or how well supplied, runs on support from its leader. Without it, they'll falter. With it, the most mediocre individuals can collectively produce greatness. The value of support Think of the times you've achieved most with a team. How…

December 9, 2016

A mistake that made it into my book

Education / Leadership

A mistake that made it into my book

As promised in yesterday's post, "Writing a book is work!," today I'll share a problem I found after the deadline to go to press. Actually, I said I'd share more than one, so I'll follow up with more in later posts. What got in This one is my term ASEEP, an acronym I created to describe fields that are active, social, emotional, expressive, and performance-based, which includes acting, playing musical instruments, athletics, dance, and even the military. We teach all of these fields effectively, and in none of them do we start by lecturing theory at students for a year, have them read and write analytical papers, and debate case studies about other people---what I call traditional academic techniques. In all of them we teach…

November 25, 2016

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