To develop trust, for someone to have your back, or for you to have someone else's, which means for teams to work optimally, people have to allow themselves to be vulnerable to each other. People throw the term around a lot. How precisely can you define it? To be vulnerable and to make others feel comfortable around you, it helps to know the word's meaning precisely My working definition of vulnerability is openness to being hurt. You can be vulnerable physically, emotionally, and intellectually, among other ways. People who have gotten hurt often protect their vulnerability to avoid becoming hurt…

I don't study philosophy, but I've been reading up on Aristotle and his Rhetoric, which is about persuasion. I'd rather put myself out there and have someone call me ignorant and foolish and set me straight than remain blissfully ignorant. I teach and write about persuasion. This stuff is interesting to me. Aristotle's Rhetoric treats three main modes of influence, mostly based in words: Credibility (ethos) Emotions and psychology of the audience (pathos) Patterns of reasoning (logos) I learned techniques rooted in this theory in college---how to write an effective essay. The problem is that most academics aren't persuasive and…

My friend and colleague, Mark Nevins PhD of Nevins Consulting, published a piece I wrote on Feedforward, one of the most effective techniques for professional and personal development I know of. His introduction begins The Power of Feedforward Effective executive coaches and leadership development experts have long been aware of a powerful technique called “Feedforward”—its name is meant to differentiate it from “Feedback.” Even if you don’t think you know about this technique, you probably do, and using it more often is bound to make you more effective in both your professional and personal lives. Our colleague Joshua Spodek does…

I was honored and flattered to receive this email from Feedspot: My name is Anuj Agarwal. I'm Founder of Feedspot. I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog  Joshua Spodek | LEADERSHIP — MEANING — PASSION  has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 300 Leadership blogs on the web. [...] I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top Leadership blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this! [...] Best wishes, Anuj including this badge to display: Since they ranked blogs based on…

Short post today. I wanted to record something I wrote and liked while writing my book draft: Leadership isn't about getting them to do what you want. It's getting them to do what they want. I think the mainstream picture of leadership is the opposite. This view suggests learning more about the people you want to lead, putting their interests first, choosing your team appropriately to the task, and working with their motivations as much as their behavior.

Reading isn't doing. Watching videos isn't doing. Learning about research isn't doing. Only changing your behavior changes your behavior. What is your behavior while reading and watching? With regard to other people, it's passive and non-interactive---the opposite of leadership, which is active and interactive. Watching videos about leadership is like watching videos about lifting weights or running. You don't lose weight from watching others exercise, you don't get strong from watching others work, and you don't learn to lead from reading about or watching others lead. Nearly every book or video on leadership and most forms of professional development talk…