I am honored that John Mattone interviewed me as part of his Expert Interview Series and posted the interview, “Joshua Spodek of Spodek Academy About Embracing a “Just Do It” Attitude Toward Leadership Coaching.”
I’ll tease you with the first few interview questions. For the answers, read the whole interview!

1. As someone who is well-educated in a variety of disciplines, could you tell us what drew you to the study of leadership?
2. Since you’re one of the relatively few Americans who has visited North Korea, could you tell us whether the portrayal of that country in the media is accurate? What surprised you most about what you saw there?
3. Which aspects of leadership do your clients struggle with the most?
4. In order to be an effective leader, why is it important first to understand yourself?
5. Is it possible for someone to be an effective leader and still have “fun” while doing it?
6. What is your approach when it comes to leaders engaging in conflict resolution?

Okay, that’s enough teasing.

Read the full interview!

Here is John Mattone from his About page:

Meet the World’s #1 Authority on Intelligent Leadership and #2 Ranked Executive Coach

John Mattone is the world’s top authority on Intelligent Leadership (IL) and the creator of the IL Executive Coaching Process and Certification. John Mattone is globally respected as a uniquely distinguished authority who can ignite and strengthen a leaders inner-self and talents, which enables them to realize four “game-changing” outcomes that they can leverage in their business and life: Altruism, Affiliation, Achievement, and Abundance (The 4 A’s).

The 4 A’s are the seeds to achieving sustained greatness and creating a lasting legacy. John Mattone is a powerfully engaging, internationally-acclaimed keynote speaker and top-ranked executive coach. Whether John is keynoting an event, conducting a retreat, or coaching an executive, he has earned a global reputation for possessing a special ability that unlocks and unleashes greatness in leaders at all levels. Since 2015, the research organization, Globalgurus.org, has ranked John Mattone as one of the world’s top leadership authorities and speakers. In 2015, John Mattone’s Intelligent Leadership, along with Tony Robbins’ Creating Lasting Change and John Maxwell’s 5 Levels of Leadership were named the three Top Advanced Leadership Development Programs that Change Lives.

In addition, John is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on corporate culture and culture transformation. He is a respected advisor and coach to CEO’s who lead small to mid-sized entrepreneurial organizations as well CEO’s who lead large global businesses, on how to create and sustain a leadership and talent culture that drives superior operating results.

Recently, John was honored by his executive coaching peers (The Association of Corporate Executive Coaches), with the prestigious 2015 International Executive Coach Thought Leader of Distinction Award, in recognition of his thought leadership and his work as a global executive coach. In 2014, the Award was humbly accepted by Marshall Goldsmith, the world’s top-ranked executive coach. John is one of nine executive coaches in the world who have been awarded the coveted Master Corporate Executive Coach (MCEC) certification from the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches.

John Mattone is the creator and master of the unique, powerful and game-changing Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching blueprint for success. Since 2010, John has used this blueprint having personally coached over 250 leaders, including 25 global CEO’s to help them become stronger, more effective and vibrant leaders and people. John Mattone is the former executive coach to the late Steve Jobs and the former legendary CEO of PepsiCo, Roger Enrico, who sought John’s advice after his PepsiCo days in helping him transition as a coach and mentor to young leaders. John Mattone is now one of the most in-demand C-level coaches in the world.

John is the creator of John Mattone University (JMU), which features the Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching Certification Program as well a series of award-winning virtual and online leadership development and HR certification programs including The Intelligent Leadership Program, recently named one of the top three advanced leadership development programs in the world. He is also the creator of a number of breakthrough leadership and culture assessments, including the Mattone Leadership Enneagram Inventory (MLEI), which served as the centerpiece of the two coaching sessions he conducted with Steve Jobs in 2010, the 5 Cultures of Culture Assessment (5CCA), and the Cultural Transformation Readiness Assessment-40 (CTRA-40).

He was nominated for the prestigious 2013 Thinkers50 Leadership Award, which recognizes the global thinker who has contributed most significantly to our understanding of leadership over the last two years. He was named to the Thinkers50 “Guru Radar” in 2011 and 2013, which recognizes the world’s fastest rising stars in the fields of leadership and management thinking. He is also currently recognized by HR.com and Warren Bennis’ Leadership Excellence Magazine as one of the world’s top independent leadership consultants, executive coaches, and speakers.

John is the author of eight books, including three best-sellers: Talent Leadership (2012-an Amazon Best-Seller), Intelligent Leadership (an Inc. Magazine and Amazon Bes-Seller) and Cultural Transformations: Lessons of Leadership & Corporate Reinvention (Wiley-January 26, 2016), which just became an Amazon #1 Best-Selling release in Human Resources and #2 in Management as well as an Inc. Magazine Best-Seller.

John is the co-author of one of the most respected studies of leadership and talent development in the world, The Trends in Leadership Development and Talent Management, which is published bi-annually by Pearson. John was recently appointed Distinguished Senior Fellow of one of leading business schools in the world, the Hult International Business School and he is the host of his own show, The CEO Magazine’s C-Suite Coaching Show.

John Mattone’s work has been featured by The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company, Businessweek, Inc. Magazine, MarketWatch, The Huffington Post, The CEO Magazine, ChiefExecutive.net, CLO Magazine, CIO Magazine, The Globe and Mail, Harvard Business Review, and many other respected global news outlets. John Mattone and his work have also been the subject of a 30-minute documentary produced by PBS.

John has over 30 years’ experience in the fields of executive development, leadership and talent development, human capital management, as an entrepreneur who has built two successful human capital consulting firms, as the President of a multi-million dollar leadership consulting firm, and as a leading researcher and author known throughout the Fortune 500 as a cutting edge thinker in the area of trends in executive development and developing high-potential and emerging leaders.

John is the founder and CEO of John Mattone-Global. Prior to this, John was the President of one of the top leadership consulting firms in the world, Executive Development Associates, Inc., (EDA) and prior to EDA he was the Vice President of Assessments for Linkage, Inc. Prior to Linkage, John was the Vice President of Sales for Drake Beam Morin, the global career and outplacement firm. Before joining DBM, John spent 10 years building his first successful consulting firm, Human Resources International.

Career Highlights

• Consulted for more than 250 organizations and coached more than 200 executives
• Addressed more than 500,000 people in over 2,000 speeches and seminars in the U.S., Canada, and other countries worldwide
• Co-author of Trends in Executive Development & Talent Management Research Reports (Pearson, 2011 & 2013)
• Author of the award winning The Role of Assessment in Driving Operating Results, published in Jac Fitz-enz’ book, “The New HR Analytics” (AMACOM, 2010)
• Author of Predictive HR Leadership, published in Jac Fitz-enz’ “Workforce Intelligence Report” (2008)
• Author of Talent Leadership: A Proven Method for Identifying & Developing High-Potential Employees (AMACOM, 2012). An Amazon Best-Seller
• Author of Intelligent Leadership: What You Need to Know to Unlock Your Full Potential (AMACOM, 2013-Foreword by Marshall Goldsmith). A Bloomsberg/Businessweek Best-Seller
• Author of Cultural Transformations: Lessons of Leadership and Corporate Reivention (Wiley, 2016). An Amazon #1 Best-Selling Release and Inc. Magazine Best-Seller
• Author of Powerful Performance Management: The Leader as Coach; Powerful Executive Coaching: A Roadmap to Unleashing Greatness in Your Current & Future Leaders; and Succession Planning & Management (AMACOM, 2012)
• Author of Success Yourself (MasterMedia, 1996) and Positive Performance Management (National Press, 1996)
• John’s has written over 100 professional articles; his work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Globe and Mail, Huffington Post, CEO Magazine, CIO Magazine, CLO Magazine, Leadership Excellence Magazine, HR Executive Magazine, Entrepreneurs Digest (Singapore), Conocimiento Dirrecion (South America), and many others.
• Written and performed in numerous audio and video programs, including Hiring & Performance Management, Focus on Success, The Essentials of Delegation, and the award winning Street Smart Supervision

Professional Qualifications

John Mattone holds a B.S. Degree in Management and Organizational Behavior from Babson College and an M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Central Florida. John serves as an MBA faculty member at Florida Atlantic University where he teaches his popular course Global Leadership Assessment and Development and he also serves as an adjunct faculty member at ZfU International Business School in Zurich, Switzerland. John also serves as a Sr. Talent Management Consultant and Master Executive Coach for Executive Development Associates (where he formerly served as President) and he was recently named President of the International Center for Business Communication (and ICBC’s first Hall of Fame inductee).

John is a member of numerous professional associations including the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches (ACEC), where he was recently named to the advisory board of The University of Continuing Education Coaching Education (UCECE) and was also appointed as ACEC’s Middle East Ambassador.

What Else About Me?

I am married to my incredible wife Gayle (we recently celebrated our 37th anniversary!). We have four adult children–Jared, Nick, Kristina, Matthew and one grandson, Luke Dominic. Gayle and I enjoy all sports activities especially skiing and bicycling (we typically ride 80-100 miles per week). We travel frequently to visit our children who live in south Florida and Tennessee and other family members in Boston, New York and North Carolina….

Read the full interview!