297: RIP James Lipton, a huge influence and inspiration

James Lipton, who started and hosted the show Inside the Actors Studio, died yesterday. Here are the notes I read from for this episode: I could talk about how much I enjoyed the episodes, his humor, and a few things I learned from his guests that only his interviewing could have elicited but I will go deeper, to share how fundamental his work has been to mine. Many times I've said that if my courses existed before I went to business school and someone were teaching them, I would have taken them instead of business school and gotten more of…

Continue Reading297: RIP James Lipton, a huge influence and inspiration

Martha Graham on Freedom Through Discipline and Conforming

I've quoted Martha Graham many times. At last I got the video of her saying the words. She describes how a performer achieves freedom through conforming and discipline better than anyone, in my opinion. I believe what she says holds for any active, emotional, expressive, social, performance-based field, including leadership and entrepreneurship. The dancer is realistic. His craft teaches him to be. Either the foot is pointed or it is not. No amount of dreaming will point it for you. This requires discipline, not drill, not something imposed from without, but discipline imposed by you yourself upon yourself. Your goal…

Continue ReadingMartha Graham on Freedom Through Discipline and Conforming

Genuineness and authenticity: What it takes

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 scene of the movie. Do you not see what are supposed to be grown men behaving like caricatures of children? At 0:56 the man shows his happiness by dancing. What…

Continue ReadingGenuineness and authenticity: What it takes

Medium awarded me “Top Writer” in three categories

I'm honored that Medium awarded my column "Top Writer" in three categories. "Great Work, Joshua Spodek. Congratulations! You are now a top writer in Leadership." "Great Work, Joshua Spodek. Congratulations! You are now a top writer in Inspiration." "Great Work, Joshua Spodek. Congratulations! You are now a top writer in Self Improvement." You can do what I did to earn it I wrote my book, Leadership Step by Step, to walk you through the steps of being able to inspire others and lead them through their self-improvement. I didn't write it "just" to engage you with inspirational writing, but to…

Continue ReadingMedium awarded me “Top Writer” in three categories

Reflections on writing

One of my online communities had a thread on writing a book this year. It led me to reflect on writing in a way that might help someone where I was before starting to write. I consider what I wrote relevant to practicing any craft or developing one's passion. Here's what I wrote: Last year was my big year for writing and finishing my book, Leadership Step by Step. It launches on Amazon a month from tomorrow. I got my first hardcovers from the printer a couple weeks ago. Last week I learned that Booklist is giving it a starred…

Continue ReadingReflections on writing

Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, and Trent Reznor’s Important but Flawed Statement

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 a bear. Martin Scorsese is the most Oscar-nominated director alive, having revolutionized film making and directing over half a century. Their movies earned 31 Oscar nominations and grossed $1.3 billion.…

Continue ReadingLeonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, and Trent Reznor’s Important but Flawed Statement

Why leadership and entrepreneurship training can learn from acting training

Longtime readers know a big inspiration for how I teach leadership and entrepreneurship is how we teach acting, based on the self-awareness, emotional expression, mutual support, and ability to perform I see in great actors. Leaders and entrepreneurs can use many of the same skills, and much of my teaching practice involves using what works in teaching acting for teaching leadership and entrepreneurship, with appropriate changes. To learn the training in more depth, I trained in one style of acting, called Meisner Technique after its originator, Sandy Meisner, and was rereading a book by the guy who founded the school…

Continue ReadingWhy leadership and entrepreneurship training can learn from acting training

Seeing my inspiration, Inside The Actors Studio, live

If you've talked to me in the past few years, you've heard how watching Inside The Actors Studio inspired me to learn how actors came to excel so much at skills leaders in other areas of life work hard to achieve but rarely do. On top of that, many great actors on the show dropped out, were kicked out, or otherwise didn't finish much school. Meanwhile, graduates of Ivy League business schools who studied leadership at the pinnacle of our educational system didn't measure up. The schools didn't even teach whatever the actors learned. My curiosity led me to discover…

Continue ReadingSeeing my inspiration, Inside The Actors Studio, live

More ineffable truth and beauty of regular life

The subtlety and nuance of ordinary life has more than enough to compel it without all the drama that most TV and movies add. Even sitting still for ten minutes is more excitement than most people can handle. The scene below from Girl With a Pearl Earing puts more intimacy, vulnerability, and sexuality into the slightest movement of a hand. The sensuality of mixing paints, the eye contact, and the gasp help, but just the touch is a lot. I don't think you need to see the rest of the movie, though it contributes. https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/girl_with_pearl_earring_clip.ogv More overt movies wish they…

Continue ReadingMore ineffable truth and beauty of regular life

How media represent and misrepresent leadership: A reader’s questions

A reader asked for follow-up on how media shows leadership, following three posts from a couple weeks ago---This is not leadership. It makes people think it is and that’s part of why we have poor leaders, part 1; part 2; part 3; and Learning about relationships ruins most movies and TV. Before the questions, I don't want to overstate what I know about relationships and how media shows them, so I have to start by saying I'm just sharing views from casual viewing, not a systematic study. I'm not trying to convince, just to share my views. I'm happy to…

Continue ReadingHow media represent and misrepresent leadership: A reader’s questions

Learning about relationships ruins most movies and TV

My pasts three posts were about how media misrepresents leadership like juvenile fantasies of beating people who disagree with you. If you don't know how to lead, you might enjoy the drama of the misrepresentations, but you risk retarding your growth. It's deeper than just leadership. Movies and TV dramatize and misrepresent nearly all relationships. The more I learn about relationships... Well, for one thing the more my life improves. But the more I learn about relationships, the more those I see in movies and television seem twisted into what will hook people into watching more. TV shows and movies…

Continue ReadingLearning about relationships ruins most movies and TV

Why do actors and entertainers become leaders more than the other way around and what can we learn from the pattern?

The other day I saw an ad for a TV show where 50 Cent was the executive producer. I don't know what role he had---maybe they're just using a star's name to get viewers---but at least the title suggests he has some leadership role. It made me think. A lot of actors, entertainers, and other performers move into leadership roles, but I rarely see it go the other way. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Same with athletes, come to think of it. People on the right wing get mad at celebrities who take up a cause, but I mean…

Continue ReadingWhy do actors and entertainers become leaders more than the other way around and what can we learn from the pattern?

How would you behave during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

The movie Thirteen Days illustrated how John Kennedy and the executive branch handled the Cuban Missile Crisis. I recommend the movie (and Robert Kennedy's book of the same name). I edited some parts to highlight one aspect of the situation---the personal perspectives and behavior of people closest to the President. While you won't likely face decisions with stakes as high as nuclear war, you'll face similar structures of conflict. Many people have written about conflict management, decision-making, avoiding groupthink, and other angles. https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/thirteen_days_clips.ogv I recommend watching these clips actively by trying to put yourself in the places of each character,…

Continue ReadingHow would you behave during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Fundamentals and technique: what you do when you don’t know what to do

A professor / actor I'm working with described a harrowing experience that illustrates the value of fundamentals and technique. He told me he forgot his line on a Broadway stage in front of around 500 to 1,000 people. Some paid hundreds of dollars for their seats and want a professional performance. What do you do if you forget your lines on stage? There's a fundamental technique a lot of actors start training early with called the repetition exercise where you repeat the same words back and forth, learning to pay attention to things other than words and react. I don't…

Continue ReadingFundamentals and technique: what you do when you don’t know what to do

Prince, Oscars, Olympians, and one of the world’s greatest leaders

Last night I went to a release of my friends' sunglasses launch event. They're Coco and Breezy and you can almost see us meeting for the first time here and here. They're famous and becoming more so all the time. They designed the sunglasses Prince is wearing on his recent album: and that he wore on Saturday Night Live: Here I am showing off the sunglasses that aren't for sale yet, with one of the designers, ahead of the fashion curve. Yes, I'm bragging. That's why I'm putting up an extra post today. If it were just for the sunglasses…

Continue ReadingPrince, Oscars, Olympians, and one of the world’s greatest leaders

Integrity in successful leaders: Stella Adler scrubbed the floor

This post follows up, "Integrity in successful leaders: Gandhi cleaned toilets," on integrity and sticking with your values. I came across the anecdote below about Stella Adler from a student of hers. Adler was one of the great acting teachers of the twentieth century. According to Wikipedia she taught Marlon Brando, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Dolores del Río, Lena Horne, Robert De Niro, Elaine Stritch, Martin Sheen, Manu Tupou, Harvey Keitel, Melanie Griffith, Peter Bogdanovich and Warren Beatty, among others. That's quite a list! She was like royalty in the acting world, coming from a family filled with other great…

Continue ReadingIntegrity in successful leaders: Stella Adler scrubbed the floor

The value of technique in leadership

An actor told me about a time he forgot his line on Broadway in front of about a thousand people, some who paid hundreds of dollars for their seats. He was in his forties and had acted for decades. Still, sometimes you forget your lines. What do you do when a thousand people are watching you and you don't know what to say? Most of us have faced not knowing what to say or do, though usually only in front of one or two people, which is more than enough to paralyze us with anxiety. Actors know about a technique…

Continue ReadingThe value of technique in leadership

A reader shares a genius business idea in action

A reader responded to "Another genius business idea: Communities refurbishing their subway platforms" to describe the idea already in action in San Francisco: Hello Joshua, I want to share with you the concept of property and business improvement districts and how one in San Francisco beautified the plaza around the Castro Street subway station. I'm sharing this as a real-world example you might find interesting. The gist is that a group of commercial properties (or even residential ones) vote to form a district, levy an assessment on themselves, and form a board of directors to manage it. The district concept…

Continue ReadingA reader shares a genius business idea in action

Another genius business idea: Communities refurbishing their subway platforms

Here’s another post in my Genius Business Idea series. My goal in this series is to show how entrepreneurial opportunities are everywhere, contrary to the common myth people who say they want to start a venture but don't: that they haven't found a great idea yet. This project is challenging, more for bureaucratic reasons than technical, but there is ample precedent of people overcoming similar challenges in New York. Read below for a list of examples. If you don't live here, I expect you'd have an easier time than we would. This one came from talking to a city employee…

Continue ReadingAnother genius business idea: Communities refurbishing their subway platforms

Dustin Hoffman on feeling understood about a passion and how it helps a leader

This clip wonderfully shows the effects of feeling understood about a passion---that is, a powerful emotion. You see how cathartic it feels for the person sharing the passion and how important it is for someone leading the person. Context: In a long interview, Dustin Hoffman is talking about the challenges of growing up under a stern father and how he escaped through movies, which evolved into acting. He starts to talk about how his exploring and understanding his relationship with his father and unexpectedly realizes he is revealing something deeply personal about his preparation for that role. What to look…

Continue ReadingDustin Hoffman on feeling understood about a passion and how it helps a leader

How to start to lead

The more I teach and coach leadership and entrepreneurship, the more I see them as sets of behavioral skills anyone can learn. Behaving in certain ways results in people choosing to follow you. Behave otherwise and they won't. There's no magic to it. The question isn't if you can behave like effective leaders do. The question is if you choose to learn and if you find effective learning technique. Your behavior is backed up by beliefs, experience, skills, and so on, but ultimately you transmit all those other things through your behavior. Other people can't sense your thoughts or see…

Continue ReadingHow to start to lead

Olympians, Nobel Laureates, Oscar winners, and others I’ve met

Over beers a colleague raised my eyebrows by beginning a sentence with, "So I walked in the Oval Office..." like walking in the Oval Office was just a casual thing everyone does at some point. It turns out he acted as a science advisor for two Presidents. And not just a meeting with a cabinet member here or there, but regular meetings lasting more than an hour. I decided to think of some of the brushes with serious greatness I've had. I don't know if the following list is bragging or not, since I didn't do any of those things.…

Continue ReadingOlympians, Nobel Laureates, Oscar winners, and others I’ve met

See Joshua Spodek at Cole Haan, Flavorpill, and General Assembly’s Inspiration Workshop, September 6

Post-event update: see a write-up and video of the event here -- http://flavorwire.com/477424/history-begins-here-starting-a-legacy-in-nyc. Everybody who attended it seemed to love it. My event had a packed room with enthusiastic participants. I made several great connections at my event and the others I attended. I hope to see you next time. See me next weekend The event is free and there's lots more than just me presenting on leadership. My part is next Saturday, September 6, 12:30pm-2:30pm. I'll talk on leadership and lead attendees through some exercises to develop leadership skills. People describe more workshops as inspiring and I teach others…

Continue ReadingSee Joshua Spodek at Cole Haan, Flavorpill, and General Assembly’s Inspiration Workshop, September 6

The value of entrepreneurial skills for artists and vice versa

Pyragraph Magazine just published a piece I wrote, "The Value of Entrepreneurial Skills for Artists," on how I hustled (a term that for me in entrepreneurship means only positive things) my way into a prestigious teaching gig at NYU while creating a big public art work. I loved and benefited from each. Neither opportunity could stand on its own, but both together worked. And the city, the school, and the students benefited. You don't have to make art to see how you can apply the story to your life. Check out the story.

Continue ReadingThe value of entrepreneurial skills for artists and vice versa

What you can learn from a film director

The reason we on the Distinguished Leaders Committee of Columbia Business School's alumni club booked a director for this evening's talk was something one of last year's speakers, Rita McGrath, said. If you're near New York City, I recommend you come (click here for details of location and how to sign up, you don't have to have graduated from Columbia to join). She pointed out that as people work at companies for shorter times, their personal networks that they maintain become more important. That is, someone you hire in their twenties today may not have worked at any company for…

Continue ReadingWhat you can learn from a film director