The Simple Reason to Learn to Lead Yourself First

My Inc. article today, "The Simple Reason to Learn to Lead Yourself First," begins: The Simple Reason to Learn to Lead Yourself First Leading others before you know your direction can lead you nowhere, or in circles. Inc. readers love leading. We love learning to lead better. Usually that means learning to lead others. Leading others sounds sexier. In my leadership courses and workshops, nearly everyone prefers the exercises that lead others over ones to build self-awareness and self-leadership. I recommend learning to lead yourself first. Here's why. Learn to lead yourself first To see what happens if you learn to lead others first,…

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Lead Yourself Before Blaming Scientists for Not Solving Global Warming

My Inc. article today, "Lead Yourself Before Blaming Scientists for Not Solving Global Warming," began Lead Yourself Before Blaming Scientists for Not Solving Global Warming Everyone is quick to point fingers. We're less quick to take responsibility, but that's what leaders do. Leaders take responsibility. We know the futility of blaming others, however much we indulge in doing so. We can't change the past. We can, however, act in the present. A leadership and business perspective can help a lot in climate change, and I don't mean by promoting technical innovation. Twice in the past two days, and many times…

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Your Employees Are Telling You How to Lead Them. Here’s How to Listen.

My post on Inc. Thursday "Your Employees Are Telling You How to Lead Them. Here's How to Listen.," began Your Employees Are Telling You How to Lead Them. Here's How to Listen. People want you to lead them effectively. Here's how to practice listening. Would you like your teammates and employees to tell you how to lead them? They're already doing it. You were probably too busy focusing on yourself, believing leadership was about you, to see. I teach and coach leadership. This point is so subtle that most clients and students take a few times to "get" it. Then they realize how obvious it is despite…

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The Difference Between Leadership and Management

My Inc. post today "The Difference Between Leadership and Management," begins The Difference Between Leadership and Management A common question with a simple answer that will help you with each As a professor of leadership and management and author of a bestselling leadership book, I get asked a lot What's the difference between leadership and management? Everyone gets that each is important. Most people get that they overlap a lot. Not many people can clarify the difference or why it matters. Hence people find themselves leading when managing would get the results they want and vice versa. It's like the…

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Zuckerberg and DiCaprio Take Heat for Flying Too Much

My Inc. post today, "Zuckerberg and DiCaprio Take Heat for Flying Too Much," begins Zuckerberg and DiCaprio Take Heat for Flying Too Much There is no half-integrity. Do it all the way or it undermines your leadership. Mark Zuckerberg announced a few months ago his plan to visit every state to learn more about people who use Facebook--people who struggle to make ends meet or fall through the cracks. Leonardo DiCaprio was named United Nations representative on climate change in 2014, which he followed up with the movie Before the Flood and many statements on slowing climate change and reducing pollution. Criticism Next thing you know, Zuckerberg…

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Bill Clinton on Nelson Mandela, for His 100th Birthday

My Inc. story today, "Bill Clinton on Nelson Mandela, for His 100th Birthday," begins Bill Clinton on Nelson Mandela, for His 100th Birthday The father of his nation was born 100 years ago today. Bill Clinton's anecdote reveals the change he created in the world. Nelson Mandela was born on this day in 1918. Few people become the father of a nation. He was imprisoned for 27 years beginning at age 45. Where most people would give up, he persevered. Eventually he negotiated from prison with the presidents of his country. He later got their job. Think about that the…

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Happy 200th Birthday to Henry David Thoreau

My post on Inc.com today, "Happy 200th Birthday to Henry David Thoreau," (the editors changed the headline) began Happy Birthday to Henry David Thoreau, a True Family Businessman The entrepreneur and supporter of self-reliance, simplicity, and small government was born 200 years ago. 200 years ago today, Henry David Thoreau was born. July is a big Thoreau month. On July 4, 1845 he moved to live by Walden Pond, pictured above, for 2 years. He spent a night in jail, July 24 or 25, 1846, to avoid supporting slavery, inspiring generations. Most periodicals reporting on his birthday talk about nature,…

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A Millennial Making America Clean Again

My Independence Day post on Inc. today, "A Millennial Making America Clean Again," begins A Millennial Making America Clean Again He's doing a simple, small, short term act that makes a difference and is leading to more. Will you follow? I love Independence Day. I don't eat hot dogs, nor do I care that much for fireworks. I celebrate July 4th by reading and writing about influential Americans and American history. I'll put this one in context with some memories of living abroad. National pride and garbage One of my most vivid memories of China was of a Chinese man…

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Dave Kerpen on my book: “This Book Gets It: Learn to Lead Yourself and Others”

There are leaders in media and then there are leaders in media. Dave Kerpen stands above the crowd, having achieved what most dream of, gathering around him a community of great people (plus 600,000+ LinkedIn followers). I'll take the liberty of putting his LinkedIn profile below, which recounts his #1 bestselling book, founding and leading a major online media firm, Likeable Media, and his family life. I'm honored and flattered that he reviewed my book and posted it on Inc.: "This Book Gets It: Learn to Lead Yourself and Others" Here's an excerpt: This Book Gets It: Learn to Lead…

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Leadership, Paris, the Environment, and You

My Inc. post today, "Leadership, Paris, the Environment, and You," begins Leadership, Paris, the Environment, and You This is our opportunity to lead, as citizens. Will we take up the charge? Are you, like Elon Musk, outraged at President Trump pulling out of the Paris climate accord? Do you, like the CEOs of General Electric and Goldman Sachs, believe the decision will hurt America's economy? Putting aside your feelings and beliefs, look at your behavior: Do you produce less greenhouse emissions than the Paris agreement calls for? For comparison, one round-trip flight across the country flying coach uses up three-quarters…

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What will you fix the toilet for?

My Inc. post today, "What will you fix the toilet for?," begins What Will You Fix the Toilet For? How much do you love your work? This simple question can tell you. White-collar workers Consider the banker, consultant, or other multinational corporate worker. He or she demands high compensation, business class travel arrangements, and so on. No one would think of asking them to do manual labor, let alone janitorial tasks. They're above all that. That's because their jobs are so valuable and meaningful, right? Think again. Entrepreneurs and founders Consider the entrepreneur or founder--someone who feels ownership of the…

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Science: This Remote Paradise Is Most Trashed Spot on Earth

My Inc. post today, "Science: This Remote Paradise Is Most Trashed Spot on Earth," begins serious but connects it to entrepreneurship and leadership. It starts: Science: This Remote Paradise Is Most Trashed Spot on Earth Two scientists report that this once-pristine paradise on Earth, now covered with plastic junk. Leaders and entrepreneurs can act. If you haven't heard, you must have been hiding under a rock. Or maybe a piece of useless plastic junk: A pristine paradise is covered with the greatest density of garbage measured, mostly plastic trinkets whose existence improved the life of no one, according to a…

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Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin, Google, and a Harvard Expert: Colleges and Universities Are Broken

My Inc. article today, "Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin, Google, and a Harvard Expert: Colleges and Universities Are Broken," begins Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin, Google, and a Harvard Expert: Colleges and Universities Are Broken They aren't just complaining. They're offering alternatives. Malcolm Gladwell couldn't be more clear in his podcast about a school ranked by some as the number one liberal arts college: There's only one solution. If you're looking at liberal arts colleges, don't go to Bowdoin. Don't let your kids go to Bowdoin. Don't let your friends go to Bowdoin. Gladwell's podcast gave the context, about the school's values.…

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$1.1 Billion and 3 NBA Championships: Leadership Lessons

My Inc.com story today, "$1.1 Billion and 3 NBA Championships: Leadership Lessons," stems from my interviewing basketball legend Byron Scott and business mogul Charles Norris, on their new book, Slam-Dunk Success: Leading From Every Position on the Court. Meeting them and getting solo time together to talk about leadership, growth, and learning was tremendous. The story begins $1.1 Billion and 3 NBA Championships: Leadership Lessons A Chairman of the Board and an NBA champion player and coach take on improving you as a leader in their new book As the crowd dissipated from the basketball court from their New York…

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“4 Skills Not Taught in the Ivy Leagues that Every Great Leader Must Master”: Inc. on me!

Inc.'s columnist and bestselling author Kevin Daum wrote about me and Leadership Step by Step today. Usually when I post Inc. article's they're by me. This one is about me. It begins: 4 Skills Not Taught in the Ivy Leagues that Every Great Leader Must Master People don't just wake up as leaders. Like any athlete or artists, they must acquire certain techniques to become masters of the art of leadership. Here are some of those skills. Joshua Spodek, author of the bestselling Leadership Step by Step: Become the Person Others Follow, got his MBA at the Columbia Business School…

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So You Want to Build a Luxury Vodka?

My Inc. article yesterday reflected my journey from a pipe-dream I had in business school of starting a vodka brand to meeting the CEO of Absolut's attempt to regain the lead it lost decades ago, Jonas Tahlin. He's taking on the challenge in part by connecting himself personally with the brand. He has lots of resources but a lot to lose. The article, "So You Want to Build a Luxury Vodka?," begins So You Want to Build a Luxury Vodka? Premium is more personal and vulnerable than ever. Do you have the guts to do it? Jonas Tahlin shares what…

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Why Do We Dream Big About Everything Except Changing Our Behavior to Pollute Less?

My Inc. article today, "Why Do We Dream Big About Everything Except Changing Our Behavior to Pollute Less?," responded to a New York Times opinion piece yesterday that I found lame, even sad. My piece begins Why Do We Dream Big About Everything Except Changing Our Behavior to Pollute Less? A New York Times editorial illustrates our limited vision about our shared world Inc. readers are resourceful. We dream big. We entrepreneurs and visionaries are inspired by our predecessors in science, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, NASA, and so on. People who launched humans to the moon, doubled transistors per chip every…

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365 days without flying

My Inc. article yesterday "365 days without flying," began 365 Days Without Flying Leadership means taking responsibility for my actions and empathy for those affected It's so easy to think greenhouse gases come from "other people," but when I learned that a flight across the country polluted roughly one year of driving, I could no longer tell myself flying wasn't that big a deal. So I told myself I would not fly for one year. I returned from my last trip March 23, 2016, so today marks day 365. Everyone loves travel, so I probably lost most readers who don't…

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The heart of my leadership technique in a 46 second video!

On top of my column with Inc., I did a series of videos in their Inc. Video: The Playbook series. Other speakers in the series include Tim Ferriss and Tony Robbins. Yesterday we posted a video of me: How to Get Your Employees to Work With Passion subtitled Joshua Spodek, author of Leadership Step By Step, explains the importance of making members of your team comfortable sharing their motivations with you. Click here or the image below to see the video.

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Broaden and Deepen Your Network Using This Simple Hack

Today on Inc., my fellow columnist, Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likable Media, followed up on my recent article about sending gratitude emails. He pointed out how the practice works beyond what we expected, since he promotes gratitude exercises too. Read the article to see how the practice led us to meet and immediately and easily connect because of it. In particular, we found ourselves in the middle of a tighter circle of mutual connections of valuable people than either expected. The article, "Broaden and Deepen Your Network Using This Simple Hack," begins Broaden and Deepen Your Network Using This Simple…

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Leaders Listen: Crossing the Political Divide

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 everyone around me. Manhattan voted nearly 9:1 for Hillary Clinton--lower Manhattan, where I live and work, probably more so. New York University, where I teach leadership, entrepreneurship, and sales, probably…

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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.…

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Want Results? 29 Ways to Support Your Teams

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 you can do with your two hands. And any team, no matter how talented its superstars or how well supplied, runs on support from its leader. Without it, they'll falter.…

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How Donald Trump Can Make Himself One of the Greatest Presidents in History

My Inc.com article yesterday, "How Donald Trump Can Make Himself One of the Greatest Presidents in History," began How Donald Trump Can Make Himself One of the Greatest Presidents in History He is uniquely positioned to advance America as much as anyone before, in 2 steps. A man who ridicules global warming won the presidency. Being miserable doesn't help, so while some protest and others counter-protest, I look ahead to what is to come and what can be done about it. I believe global warming is the biggest threat to our future. And I fear a president's disbelieving it will…

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This COO Shares His No. 1 Best Way to Advance

My Inc.com post today, "This COO Shares His No. 1 Best Way to Advance," begins This COO Shares His No. 1 Best Way to Advance Nothing moves you up faster than moving your team up. To advance yourself, advance your team. I noticed the conversations with one of my clients--Scott Moody, COO and CFO of the Bonten Media Group---often included discussions on his efforts to help his team with their professional development. He believes any business should invest in this process, and I interviewed him to share with others some of his most effective yet simplest practices. When he told…

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