Dan Kuschell and I met last year and became friends over our similar passions for leadership—servant leadership in particular. Read his bio and watch his videos below to see his story. Scheduling appearing on his podcast took forever, but it finally happened. Today I bring you our conversation on his show, Growth to Freedom. Knowing someone so long makes the conversation more friendly, open, and vulnerable. We approached common issues[…] Keep reading →

A friend sent a link to an article about how we can save the environment. People consistently suggest potential guests for my podcast who do environmental things. I’m glad that they’re thinking about the environment. but they don’t get what I’m doing. There are already plenty of people working on spreading environmental facts, knowledge, tips, analysis, and telling people what to do. It got us far, but I think they’re[…] Keep reading →

This morning’s New York Times posted a story, Holocaust Is Fading From Memory, Survey Finds, reporting a survey with results such as Thirty-one percent of Americans, and 41 percent of millennials, believe that two million or fewer Jews were killed in the Holocaust; the actual number is around six million. Forty-one percent of Americans, and 66 percent of millennials, cannot say what Auschwitz was. My last name, Spodek, is Jewish-Polish,[…] Keep reading →

RJ Khalaf took my course at NYU, Fundamentals of Social Entrepreneurship, a few years ago. His class project evolved into LEAD Palestine, which led the Dalai Lama to name him a Dalai Lama fellow. He also appeared on the Leadership and the Environment podcast and was a panelist on our expert panel last week. Saturday he gave his first TEDx talk at TEDx NYU. All credit goes to him for[…] Keep reading →

I’ve wanted to meet top influencer Leonard Kim for years, having seen his online presence everywhere. I appeared on his Voice of America show today, speaking on leading people without relying on authority. He led the interview to get to the heart of my practice. I enjoyed the conversation and got to share what counts. Listen to the conversation. Listen to the conversation.

Yesterday was the Leadership and the Environment podcast’s first Expert Panel, on a path to turn the podcast into a movement of people enjoying acting on their environmental values. Expert panelists Vincent Stanley, Robin Nagle, and RJ Khalaf topped the reasons making yesterday so successful. They openly shared their struggles and triumphs in vivid, colorful stories. Each time I looked at the audience, everyone seemed engaged and enraptured. We started[…] Keep reading →

A Lesson in Authentic Leadership With Super Bowl Champion Bryan Braman Think NFL players only care about the game? This Philadelphia Eagle showed the leadership skills that make champions, on the field and in life. When a friend offered to connect me to Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagle Bryan Braman, my first thought–as a native Philadelphian raised on cheese steaks and soft pretzels–was of course I want to talk to a guy who[…] Keep reading →