A leadership lesson Hillary Clinton supporters could learn from Nelson Mandela

  • Post category:Leadership

A few weeks ago, while working on a video shoot waiting for the people to be recorded to arrive, a friend mentioned how he expected the women to be more likely to wear makeup. A woman on the shoot called him misogynist. I asked what was misogynist about what he said. She said the expectation that women had to wear makeup. I pointed out that he didn't say anything about obligation. She repeatedly called him misogynist, showing no willingness to consider other perspectives or even listen, as far as I could tell. Fast forward to now. I'm catching up on…

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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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Secret Entourage Academy interviews me on entrepreneurship and leadership

Secret Entourage is a group that supports and promotes entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. I met them through my friend Jordan Harbinger, who invited me to North Korea. They interview me. If you like my style, the interview tells you a lot about me and my development. I recommend listening! (please excuse the video quality) Watch Secret Entourage Academy's interview of Joshua Spodek here. From their notes: About: Joshua Spodek decided to major in Physics after nearly giving up his love of science and math due to bullying through high school. After earning his PhD, he felt as if the more education…

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Questions before you lead or teach

In his recent post, "Make the Work Worth Doing," Chris Lehmann, founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, lists questions tremendously useful for leaders or anyone who wants to engage others and create meaning in their work. His perspective reinforces how important how you lead or teach is compared to what you do or teach. If you think you can't learn from a high school principal how to improve your skills to lead, engage, enable, and create meaning for others, how many of the following questions from his post (edited to include leadership contexts) would you answer yes to in…

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The leader as accompanist

The mainstream view of the leader is as the quarterback or command-and-control general. It's changing, but those views seem the most common. Different models for leading work better for different situations. Alternative models that I find work more often are that The leader serves his or her followers, see "Lessons in leadership from Frances Hesselbein, part 1" The leader is like a gardener, see "Jack Welch’s Gardening Model of Leadership" Another model I've used in teaching that applies to leadership comes from one of my physics professors who has become a friend since the early 90s. He plays piano and…

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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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A mistake that made it into my book

As promised in yesterday's post, "Writing a book is work!," today I'll share a problem I found after the deadline to go to press. Actually, I said I'd share more than one, so I'll follow up with more in later posts. What got in This one is my term ASEEP, an acronym I created to describe fields that are active, social, emotional, expressive, and performance-based, which includes acting, playing musical instruments, athletics, dance, and even the military. We teach all of these fields effectively, and in none of them do we start by lecturing theory at students for a year,…

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Writing a book is work!

  • Post category:Leadership

I can't believe how much time and how many steps go into writing a book: Ten or twenty years to develop the ideas enough to have the nerve to put yourself out there to try it Six months to a year to write a book proposal, itself 45 pages Months of talking to editors to solicit bids Months to negotiate a contract Months to write the book Editing Editing More editing Type setting And so on... The above just leads up to the marketing, which is where I am now because on Monday my book went to print! That's right.…

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Another difference between management and leadership

"What's the difference between leadership and management," people often ask. Here's one difference I often illustrate with. Most people I know haven't sold things and are afraid of selling. They fear rejection, failure, putting themselves out there, bothering people, and those parts of selling. They know most people feel the same. A great manager can create incentives for someone to sell, like with big commissions, training, resources, and a clear job description, but it's almost impossible to get someone who hasn't sold to sell successfully, putting their hearts into it. A great leader can inspire someone to feel such ownership…

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Two big problems with how we work on global warming, and solutions

I recommend Before the Flood, a documentary on global warming by Leonardo Di Caprio, Martin Scorcese, and others, including music by Trent Reznor. It's free on YouTube [EDIT: it keeps getting removed, though people seem to repost it so if you search you may find it]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxGOQDiWImA Two big problems Problem #1: the people who know what's happening---the scientists---are unskilled at influencing others and the people skilled at influencing others, like Di Caprio, don't have credibility as actors and celebrities. The result is that the most influential people come from neither group, but from groups with personal interests, like the…

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If you voted for Hillary Clinton, face it, you lost.

  • Post category:Leadership

I'm sympathetic to people who wanted Hillary Clinton to win. I didn't want Trump either. But I've read the Constitution and it's very clear. If you believe Hillary Clinton was the most qualified candidate, I suggest you read the Constitution, Article 2. It clearly states the qualifications for the office---mainly to be A naturally born citizen, at least 35 years old, having lived in the country for 14 years, not having served two terms already, and having won the electoral college vote. That's it. We all knew the rules before. Hillary Clinton got four out of five of those qualifications,…

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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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New email provider means you might be getting my newsletter for the first time

Hello all, I'm changing the email provider for my newsletter. It turns out the old one was hitting some filters, so some of you may be getting my newsletter for the first time. So if you signed up a long time ago and are just seeing your first newsletter from me, welcome aboard! ... and sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy the newsletter. Why I changed I changed because I'm starting to get the word out about my book, Leadership Step by Step, to launch in February. Here's a blurb from the back cover: Joshua is changing the…

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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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A student review: “I love this course… It is the wave of the future”

As part of teaching my leadership course at NYU, I give out a mid-semester evaluation. One student gave me permission to quote her evaluation. Here it is, unedited, besides my making the name of the course a link and making some text bold: What I like about the course, Leadership Step by Step, is my understanding of the decisions I make and why I think the way I do. From emotions to feelings to acting on a belief. Through work, friends and family my direct interactions with people have been enriched. I adjusted my speech and I chose to use…

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Why She Lost

My Inc.com post today, "Why She Lost," begins Why She Lost A two-part lesson in leadership we can all learn from Two glaring reasons explain Hillary Clinton's loss. We can all learn from them. First: Emotional Skills What makes someone a leader? More than anything else, they must motivate others to achieve a goal. Motivation means emotions. As carpenters work with saws and tools on wood, surgeons work with scalpels and their tools on the body, and plumbers work with wrenches on pipes, and leaders work with emotions on people. Read the rest at Why She Lost.

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The core of my leadership technique

I've been refining how to describe my technique in leading others succinctly: Leading others is about behaving and communicating so the other person feels comfortable sharing their vulnerabilities. Their vulnerabilities tend to be their greatest passions and strongest motivations. Their sharing their passions makes them feel understood and open to being led to act on it. In fact, they crave being led by their passions. With experience, their sharing their motivations with you feels like them asking you to lead them with them. Connecting their passions to the team task imbues their work with meaning and inspires them. You supporting…

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Leadership Step by Step: first sightings of my book!

Over the weekend I got the first printed copies of my book! I've been working on it intensely for months, and building up to that intensity for longer than that. I've been developing the content and my practice for the better part of a decade. Some parts more. It feels great to hold it in my hands. I couldn't help take a few pictures with my phone, damn the torpedoes on the picture quality. I had to share! I'm still editing and ramping up the marketing, but the first physical copy feels like a major milestone. Stay tuned! More to…

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Spodek Academy on Facebook!

See the new Spodek Academy Facebook page… My courses (available now!) and book (launching in February!) are growing beyond this blog and deserve their own site. Yesterday I announced the new Spodek Academy web page (despite my aversion to Facebook and LinkedIn). Today I'm announcing the Facebook page, which will host forums, discussions, and more on leadership, entrepreneurship, active learning, hustling, The Fundamentals of Hustling, and more. As subscribers, would you please click here or the image below and like the page? You'll be glad you did as the community there grows with alumni of my courses and other skilled,…

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Announcing Spodek Academy!

See my new web page... My courses (available now!) and book (launching in February!) are growing beyond this blog and deserve their own site. Click Spodek Academy or the image below! You'll see videos, fuller explanations of the courses, testimonials, and more. ... And new social media sites! To create business connections with customers (and in contrast with my aversion to Facebook and LinkedIn), I'm creating Facebook and LinkedIn pages. So... Please like Spodek Academy's Facebook page Please connect to the Joshua Spodek LinkedIn page And connect to @spodek on Twitter You'll probably receive LinkedIn connection requests anyway.

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Marshall Goldsmith: How to Become More Than Just No. 1

My second Inc.com piece from last Monday, "Marshall Goldsmith: How to Become More Than Just No. 1," began Marshall Goldsmith: How to Become More Than Just No. 1 Faced with the challenge of nowhere to go but down, Marshall Goldsmith offers the world his wisdom, and keeps going up Successful leaders know how to keep leading. We can learn from them. Inc. has written about Marshall Goldsmith many times. He writes here. With good reason: he's written #1 bestselling books, been named #1 leadership thinker, coached clients named #1 CEO, learned from other #1 leaders, and so on. That's a…

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See me on an entrepreneurial leadership panel, October 13 in Manhattan

See me on a panel on entrepreneurial leadership with the Columbia Business School Alumni Club (all are welcome, membership not required), Thursday, October 13, 6pm-8pm at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, 1301 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY. Register Here! I look forward to seeing you there. From the event page: Entrepreneurial Leadership: Leadership in Starting a New Business Effective leadership is of vital importance at all stages of a business. Particularly to a new venture, have you thought of the impact of leadership on transforming an innovative idea into a successful business? Do you know what particular leadership…

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Op/Ed Fridays: Why do the candidates want to be President?

  • Post category:Leadership

A major point of leadership as I teach and practice it is to learn the interests of your teammates and to share yours with them. If you only care about and focus on behavior and external incentives, you're stuck leading by authority. You can't create meaning or purpose in the work you lead people to do. Meaning and purpose come from connecting people emotions to their work. Even if you aren't leading someone, knowing teammates' motivations helps teams function more like teams. Sharing your motivations, especially strong ones, makes you vulnerable but also creates intimacy, which creates trust, predictability, and…

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What are vulnerability and intimacy?

  • Post category:Leadership

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…

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