I’ll be delivering my seminar on  next weekend in Singapore, October 6 and 7, at INSEAD. Here’s the announcement. I hope to see you there. Leadership Through Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence Workshop led by Joshua Spodek, MBA, PhD; supported by the INSEAD Toastmasters Club INSEAD Toastmasters Club is pleased to announce a two-day (half-day) experiential workshop focused on how to develop personal leadership skills, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence by using[…] Keep reading →

In a taxi ride home last night, we turned the corner onto Donghu Lu and saw this — a car completely flipped over. I’ve seen a lot of things in life, but I can’t imagine how it happened. The stuff on the curb nearby was messed up, but not enough to explain how the car flipped over. There weren’t any skid marks or other flipped over cars. The headlights were[…] Keep reading →

Speaking about commuting, as I did yesterday, I decided to record my Shanghai morning commute. It’s normally about eight minutes. I could probably do it in six-and-a-half without running if I had to. So I brought my camera and took pictures every dozen yards or so sometimes looking forward, other times to the side. What can I say? I consider community more important all the time. I live in a[…] Keep reading →

Nobody likes commuting. Living far from where you work doesn’t make sense to me. It messes up your sense of community. If you drive it pollutes, isolates you, and keeps you from exercising. I’ve done well about keeping my commutes short. Business school, at thirty minutes door-to-door, was one of my longest commutes. Since it was by subway it probably didn’t pollute that much. Mostly my commutes have been fifteen[…] Keep reading →

Writing about growing up in a bad part of town reminded me of a summer experience. I had the opportunity for a summer in Paris after my first year in college. I couldn’t afford to stay without some income, but didn’t speak enough French to do much. I searched as long as I could until my money was about to run out — probably about a week — then took[…] Keep reading →

“I don’t eat any meat, fish, chicken, or eggs. Does this dish have any of those in it?” “Ah, you’re vegetarian. I understand. No, that dish has no meat in it.” “Are you sure? No meat, fish, chicken or eggs? Not even oyster sauce?” “I’m sure. It has only vegetables.” “Great. I’ll take it then.” Halfway through the dish, you find what looks like pieces of meat all throughout the[…] Keep reading →

Greenwich Village, my home, is the best place on Earth. You may love a place more. I love the beauty of raw nature, untouched by human hands, that New York City no longer offers. But I love people and the art, music, culture, and community we create too and I’ve never seen the equal of the West Village. After living abroad and visiting amazing growth, ancient cultures, new cultures, and[…] Keep reading →

Though I try to post mainly on leadership, it’s hard not to post sometimes when you have a vacation of a lifetime. Still, for those interested in Four-Hour-Work-Week or Mr-Money-Mustache living — that is, needing little — you’ll be glad to see that working only one or two days a week can bring you to one of the world’s top-rated beaches — Boracay! Last week a friend and I planned[…] Keep reading →

Kim Il Sung Square hosts the big rallies with the soldiers marching in huge numbers past whichever great leader is in power. We visited the day before the big hundredth anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birth. The day was cool and foggy. We had one of the most amazing experiences of our lives. See all those groups of people in the second picture? I’m not sure why they were there[…] Keep reading →