Seeing as he faces no competition yet, it’s not too early to figure out how to win in the next election. I already wrote in How to get votes for Donald Trump my simple rule that if you follow it, you’ll create votes for Trump: Every time you call someone sexist, racist, xenophobic, privileged, islamophobic, mansplaining, manspreading, narcissistic, or the like, you create a new vote for Trump. including the[…] Keep reading →

My Meaningful Connection exercise is one of my most popular and effective (they’re all effective) from corporate speaking, one-to-one coaching, teaching, my personal practice, and my book. Since I have non-native English speakers in nearly every audience, I’ve decided to ask some to translate the script into various languages. My leadership class this summer afforded my first two translations. If you can help with others, please let me know. I’d[…] Keep reading →

I met Kevin Kruse through his annual top 100 leadership speakers in Inc., which included 15 or 20 guests of my podcast, podcasters who have hosted me, and people who have been over for dinner. Kevin is also from Philadelphia so we got to know each other and today, I appear on his podcast. Listen to the conversation. Listen to the conversation. From the notes: Joshua Spodek is an Adjunct[…] Keep reading →

Here are resources I learn from and return to about joy, discovery, meaning, purpose, community (not doom, gloom, new-age fluff, etc), in no particular order. I’ll keep adding to it. I recommend bingeing on all of it. Leadership and Teamwork The This Sustainable Life podcast When people hear my podcast name, they focus on the environment part. I consider leadership incomparably more important. We know what to do. The question[…] Keep reading →

I’ll soon post my podcast interview with Jordan Harbinger, one of the world’s top podcasters. First I’m sharing this example of Jordan and how to learn to communicate authentically and genuinely—through practice and rehearsal. Think genuineness and authenticity matter in business? How about marriage? This recording features Jordan’s wife talking about how Jordan came off, when she knew he practiced, rehearsed, and taught others to. Practice and rehearsal work because[…] Keep reading →

Tricia Brouk is an incredible director, TEDx Executive Producer, actress, choreographer, and more. She’s worked with names like Richard Gere, James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, John Torturo, Eddie Izzard, Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi, and Bobby Canavale. Wow! As host of the Big Talk podcast, she posted our conversation, “Put Yourself in the Background.” From the liner notes: Put Yourself in the Background – Joshua Spodek Summary What is the[…] Keep reading →

EDIT: I recorded a podcast version of this post (episode 63) that covered same views beyond this post: If anything marked the beginning of the industrial revolution, it was James Watt’s steam engine. It wasn’t the first steam engine, but was more efficient than any before. More efficient means using less energy and less pollution, right? Wrong. Each engine, yes, but more people used engines, so Watt engines used more[…] Keep reading →

Since most people I know voted for Clinton, I presume most of my readers did. Though I don’t like Trump as president, as long as tens of millions of Americans voted for him, I hope my readers represent the population more faithfully than the population of lower Manhattan. Trump’s win surprised most Clinton supporters. My reaching out to Trump voters and speaking with them explained a lot to me. The[…] Keep reading →

How to disrespect a leader: Assume he or she was born with something special and didn’t have to work at it. Developing leadership skills and experience is hard and takes years, even decades, risking failure and disaster time and again. Assuming people were just born that way or have something others don’t ignores all of it. I think people believe it to excuse themselves from trying.