Jon and I start by talking about his book, You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence. Some of the celebrities he’s met and researched come up. Then we started talking about this podcast and how I could apply his work to cultivate influence among my podcast guests, building community. You get to hear him coaching me on his expertise.

“Unearned suffering is redemptive,” said Martin Luther King. In today’s episode I share what I learned today recording with Blake Haxton, a guest whose episode will appear soon. He lost two legs to flesh-eating disease in 2009. Tragedy? Yes. Reason to give up? On the contrary, according to him, his one unlucky event in life. I contend that his outlook on life and message that we all face setbacks, we[…] Keep reading →

Last time Joe committed to organizing and participating in a beach clean-up as part of his campaign. In today’s episode he shares the state of the region, including the extent of homelessness, drugs, and violence, which made acting so far impossible. We revisit the commitment as well as personal thoughts on what’s happening to America, at least in its major cities of New York City and Los Angeles. Then Joe[…] Keep reading →

Those who listen to my podcast or attended my workshops know The Spodek Method, my two-stage interaction to lead someone to share their intrinsic emotions about the environment, think of a way to act on them, and share their results. I find people enjoy the process and results. They share them openly. I contrast it with nearly all other techniques I see people trying to influence others’ environmental behavior. I[…] Keep reading →

Jonathan and I continue practicing the Spodek Method. Since last recording, he practiced it with his wife. This time he shares how it went. I picked up on a nuance, that she picked a commitment disconnected from her intrinsic motivation and ended up not finding the task meaningful. What we covered relates to leadership and relationships in general. The major theme we covered is uncovering people’s intrinsic motivations. People often[…] Keep reading →

Coming from a background in science but realizing that sharing numbers and data didn’t influence, Joe had to unlearn a lifetime of mainstream science education. He recognized that the best known scientists, like Darwin and Einstein, were great writers. He followed in their footsteps to learn what works while maintaining scientific integrity, which he shares in this episode. In a world of storytellers and would-be leaders who don’t know science[…] Keep reading →

Since Eric’s last time here, he formally declared he is running for office. Now he’s reporting back months into his campaign. Did Trump not being in office slow him down? Or did our environmental problems motivate him even more? How about his commitment to avoid flying? Surely he gave it up to campaign, right? Or did he? Whichever way he went on that commitment, the decision must have been difficult,[…] Keep reading →