Jesse Lahey, who runs the Engaging Leader podcast, led me in a conversation about leadership, how to behave more authentically.
The conversation was fun, informative, and, I hope, engaging and inspirational. Jesse kept the conversation meaningful and valuable, at least to me.
Here are Jesse’s show notes:
To lead and influence others, whether as a workplace leader or as a thought leader, you need to develop an authentic voice. For example, let’s say you are a CEO delivering a speech to your employees, or a functional VP writing an email to your staff, or a department head presenting recommendations to the C-Suite. When you speak or write, are you clear? Are you true to your values, passions, and personality? Are you representing the real you, and do people understand and trust you? Are you effective not only in prepared communications, but when you speak “off the cuff†or extemporaneously?
You might think, well, it’s not rocket science. But if that were true, then why do so many leaders struggle with it and not quite have the impact they want? Maybe it really is rocket science, and so, to help us get to the bottom of it, we decided to talk to a real rocket scientist who became a leader.
Joshua Spodek is an Adjunct Professor at NYU, leadership coach and workshop leader for Columbia Business School, columnist for Inc., and founder of SpodekAcademy.com. His new book is Leadership Step by Step: Become the Person Others Follow.
Josh has led seminars in leadership, entrepreneurship, creativity, and sales at Harvard, Princeton, MIT, INSEAD (Singapore), the New York Academy of Science, and in private corporations. He holds five Ivy League degrees, including a PhD in Astrophysics and an MBA, and he helped build an X-ray observational satellite for NASA. He has co-founded and led as CEO or COO several ventures, and holds six patents. He earned praise as “Best and Brightest†(Esquire Magazine’s Genius Issue), “Astrophysicist turned new media whiz†(NBC), and “Rocket Scientist†(ABC News and Forbes), and has been quoted and profiled by ABC, CBS, NBC, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- Website: www.JoshuaSpodek.com
- Online exercises and community: www.SpodekAcademy.com/lahey
- Book: Leadership Step by Step: Become the Person Others Follow
- Twitter: @spodek
- LinkedIn: /joshuaspodek
- Facebook Group: Leadership Step by Step
Here is more about Jesse, from his about page:
Jesse is a speaker, author, and consultant with over 20 years of experience in leadership and workforce communications.
Jesse is the host of three podcasts – Engaging Leader, Workforce Health Engagement, and Game Changer – heard by thousands of leaders around the world. He is the author of 8 Communication Tools for Leaders: Become a Better Leader in Every Area of Life, co-author of Gamification: Engaging Your Workforce, and editor of Making Character First: Building a Culture of Character in Any Organization. He is Chief Engagement Officer (CEO) of Aspendale Communications, a team of consultants founded in 2004 to help employers attract and retain top talent, engage employees, and deliver superior business results.
Prior to founding Aspendale Communications, he was a partner at a human resources consulting firm. Jesse’s experience also includes serving as a communication specialist with a global management consulting firm and as the HR communication leader at a Fortune 500 manufacturer with nearly 20,000 employees worldwide.
Both Jesse and his wife Erin have a longtime passion for communication, leadership, and continual learning. They met while performing in high school theater, and both started writing and editing professionally while in college. They chose to homeschool their four children in order to cultivate close relationships, a love for learning, and their core values. Most of the engagement principles that Jesse teaches have been practiced on his guinea pigs – er, children – and so far, none of them have needed to be bailed out of jail.
Jesse serves on the boards of two non-profits: Whispering Hope Ranch Ministries, an organization that uses horses to connect with children and train them to be leaders; and His Love Family Resources, an organization that provides counseling and material assistance to those with unexpected pregnancies and to families living in poverty. He also serves on the Lead Team of Praxis Church.
In 2009, Jesse’s passion for learning and health led him to train for a triathlon. After discovering the sport to be a fun way to maintain and even improve health, Jesse engaged several family members and friends to join him each year in various triathlons, marathons, and other endurance events. Years later, Team Hanladan is still having fun together.