A few weeks ago the team at one of my favorite companies (because a friend founded it and I knew it before it was cool), Museum Hack: This Isn’t Your Grandma’s Museum Tour, recorded a podcast with me, “Leadership & Pirates“. They love all things historical and asked me to analyze the leadership of one of the most successful pirates of all time, Ching Shih. According to Wikipedia, she was[…] Keep reading →

I finally watched Gone With the Wind. People routinely rate it one of the top movies. Watching it, you automatically rate it by the standards of its time. But watch the acting these iconic scenes. The morning after watching the movie, I woke up realizing how ungenuine and inauthentic the acting was. Sure, by the standards of its time, the acting was probably great. But watch this scene, the opening[…] Keep reading →

Several milestones mark a book’s publication. Amazon.com is the dominant book retailer and today they officially started shipping my book, Leadership Step by Step. Early reviews look promising: 27 5-star reviews and 1 4-star. Here’s a screenshot The book has jumped to 472nd place in leadership, an auspicious beginning. Still, 471 places to go. I recommend reading the reviews and buying copies for everyone you know ;). Thank you! Reaching[…] Keep reading →

Huffington Post signed me as a contributor and I jumped in head first with a piece, “If You Don’t Want To Make It Eight Years For Trump…,” on politics, influence, our president, and what to do about it. I’m not a fan of how people who don’t like Trump are responding to him. I’d advise them, “Don’t be Walter,” but I’m not sure everyone would get the point of a[…] Keep reading →

My guest post, “Struggling To Find Your Authentic Voice As A Leader? Try These Exercises,” posted today on the American Management Association’s AMACOM Playbook. It begins What is an authentic voice and why does it matter? I’m asked this question a lot because my company has developed an exercise called “Your Authentic Voice.” First, let’s look at the benefits of an authentic voice and the costs of not having one.[…] Keep reading →

Steven Shalowitz, host of The One Way Ticket Show podcast, posted yesterday our interview, “Josh’s one way ticket is back to this historic time in American history,” which covers the time in history I would choose to go to if I could magically go there with no chance to return, as well as Leadership Step by Step. Click here to listen! I find the show fascinating, as well as his[…] Keep reading →

Laura Coe, host of The Art of Authenticity podcast, posted today our second interview, “Joshua Spodek: Becoming The Person Others Follow,” which covers Leadership Step by Step, along with authenticity in general. Laura is a wonderful interviewer who genuinely cares about her guests. A second interview means more familiarity and comfort, which means covering perspectives and details beyond what a first interview can cover. Listen to the interview! (scroll down)[…] Keep reading →

This morning Jim Blasingame interviewed me on his Small Business Advocate Show. Here is the interview: Find interviews with Small Business experts on the Small Business Advocate show Find interviews with Small Business experts on the Small Business Advocate show If you don’t have javascript (and you see white space above this line), click the image below: Click below for three edited highlights: Defining leadership elements that sustain success: Joshua[…] Keep reading →

A reader wrote with some questions common enough from other readers to share. His second message is the common one. The first sets the context of dealing with a difficult person. Here’s the first message: I’d like to know how to deal with the type who is indifferent to the possible adverse repercussions for his actions (or lack thereof) and may actually want to deliberately trigger you to intervene and[…] Keep reading →