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[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →

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“[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →

I can’t believe how much time and how many steps go into writing a book: Ten or twenty years to develop the ideas enough to have the nerve to put yourself out there to try it Six months to a year to write a book proposal, itself 45 pages Months of talking to editors to solicit bids Months to negotiate a contract Months to write the book Editing Editing More[…] Keep reading →

“What’s the difference between leadership and management,” people often ask. Here’s one difference I often illustrate with. Most people I know haven’t sold things and are afraid of selling. They fear rejection, failure, putting themselves out there, bothering people, and those parts of selling. They know most people feel the same. A great manager can create incentives for someone to sell, like with big commissions, training, resources, and a clear[…] Keep reading →