Hear me share on Paul Smith’s Lead With a Story podcast how the company I co-founded, Submedia, locked me out of the office as the final nail of ousting me. More precisely, after ousting me from the CEO position, owing to Submedia’s running out of money — I won’t argue it being a fair reason to switch CEOs — the new team moved offices and didn’t give me a key[…] Keep reading →

Lisa Lentino hosts the Guiding You Through the Maze podcast and runs The Coaching Connector, which connects people looking for coaching with coaches and gives resources for both. For example, she recently posted an interview with friend, mentor, and podcast guest Marshall Goldsmith. From Marshall, Lisa moved to me and hosted a conversation on learning to lead. If your career or life isn’t at its potential and you know you’re[…] Keep reading →

Want to lead people so they want you to lead them again? To take initiative effectively? Many people ask counterproductive questions, like “How should I do X?”, “How do I convince someone to do Y?”, or “What do I need to know to become a leader?” The most effective question is “How do I learn to lead?“, or in entrepreneurship and taking initiative, “How do I learn to take initiative?“[…] Keep reading →

A friend emailed that Greta Thunberg will sail across the Atlantic. This is Leadership. Anyone could have done it first. I’ve been trying to sail. She got invited. Everyone who says flying is necessary or that they can’t avoid it. . . well, she put the lie to that excuse. If she’s achieving her goals more by not flying, what’s out there for the rest of us to do next?[…] Keep reading →

At last the TEDx talk I gave April 6 at NYU is online. EDIT: Here’s my second TEDx talk: Here are pictures from the event.

I keep seeing the opinion that regulation stifles creativity and innovation. Searching on “regulation stifles innovation” returns plenty of hits. I’m not a historian or economist, so please show me if I’m missing anything, but I find the opposite. My big example is cars. Today we value safety, efficiency, and durability. Actually, I think most buyers always valued those things. In the 60s, the U.S. car industry largely ignored those[…] Keep reading →

It’s obvious but I haven’t seen it clearly stated enough to make its consequence obvious. As far as I know, everyone who knows the details says the Russians are deliberately influencing U.S. elections and that Putin is leading the effort in some way. What does Putin want? People answer various ways. The clearest answer seems: Putin wants a weaker United States. Corollary: Putin wanting a weaker U.S. suggests that he[…] Keep reading →

I met Jared Angaza appearing on each other’s podcast a couple years ago. We became great friends at first only online. I met him in person for the first time in San Diego in November after I attended the Summit in Los Angeles. We “broke bread” together by cooking a couple loads of my famous no-packaging vegetable stew for his family and a few of his family groups—about twenty people.[…] Keep reading →

You know you’ve wanted to see a TED talk live. Now’s your chance. Cancel your old plans for next weekend. [NOTE: I will post the video of my talk here when the organizers finish editing and post it. They estimated 6 to 12 weeks from April 6 — that is, likely late May or June.] See me and six other brilliant, engaging speakers this Saturday, April 6 at TEDxNYU—the intersection[…] Keep reading →