Leadership Step By Step

Yes, it will take you some time to read Joshua Spodek's new book, Leadership Step by Step. Yes, it will be a little like doing "homework." Yes, this is a book you'll read and likely need to revisit a few times for the concepts to fully sink in. Yes, this is a book you must read if you want to become the person others will follow.

The time and effort you put into, Leadership Step by Step, will be well worth it!

Spodek guides you through what to do and how to do it in an integrated and comprehensive progression of exercises designed to cultivate key abilities, behaviors, and beliefs through experiences.

The progression contains four units:

Understanding Yourself
Leading Yourself
Understanding Others
Leading Others

Each chapter within the four units provides you:

Hands-on Exercises
Reflection Questions
Post-Exercise Observations

"By the time you finish the book, you'll have competed 22 exercises." explains Spodek, who is an Adjunct Professor at NUY and a lecturer for Columbia Business School.

Joshua Spodek

Spodek kindly answered these questions the other day regarding his book published this month:

Question: Which of the following units do most leaders struggle most with? And, why?

Understanding Yourself
Leading Yourself
Understanding Others
Leading Others

Spodek: My experience tells me leaders struggle equally with all four areas, though they excel in all four too. We all have blind spots, and those blind spots show up in each area, so most leaders could stand to improve in each.

What Vince Lombardi said about winning applies to leadership: it's not a sometimes thing, it's an all the time thing. If you lead effectively some of the time, or in some areas, but not all the time, or in all areas, you're liable to fail unexpectedly.

The good news is that improving in each area, when you have effective exercises that give you relevant experience, is rewarding and often fun. My book is about improving, not just analyzing, so doing the exercises will create rewarding experiences in each area.

Question: To help set expectations, how long should a reader expect to spend with the book to complete the 22 exercises?

Spokek: I designed the course so people could work at the pace they desire, and I've resisted the call for clickbait tactics like "Do this one thing that made JFK great and you'll be a great leader!"

Teaching piano like that would teach you chopsticks but not how to genuinely and authentically express yourself. Developing the experience to lead effectively, genuinely, and authentically takes years without an integrated, comprehensive progression of exercises like mine. My course will get you nearly all that experience in a fraction of the time. It will also give you direction to keep practicing for the rest of your life.

I assign my college and business school students one or two exercises a week and they finish in 13 weeks, or just over three months. A dedicated person without a full course load could possibly do them in half the time. I've also had one-on-one coaching clients who chose to delve into single exercises for months to really understand them.

Like jump shots in basketball that LeBron James practices as much as a beginner, you will find value doing the exercises as much in ten years as now. I still practice them.

Thank you to the book's publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

Comments

How To Rewire Your Mind To Build Your Adaptability Quotient

Alec Litowitz argues that the most valuable skill of the next decade isn't IQ or even EQ (Emotional Intelligence). It's AQ: your Adaptability Quotient, the ability to question assumptions, update beliefs, and respond effectively when reality changes. Litowitz is the author of the forthcoming book (releasing on September 15, 2026) The Adaptability Quotient: Rewiring Your Mind For Success In The Next Human Era . And he shares that “AQ is a learnable way of using your mind like a high-performance machine: to model risk, absorb feedback, make faster corrections, and create repeatable advantages in conditions where most people stall out—or drown.” In short, it’s all about how to move from “making the right decision” to “making decisions right.” “As artificial intelligence, media, and scientific advances reshape the cognitive landscape, adaptability becomes the essential discipline for reclaiming human agency,” adds Litowitz. “And a s AI resha...

Leadership Quotes From John C. Maxwell's Book, Everyone Communicates Few Connect

The real gems in John C. Maxwell's book, Everyone Communicates Few Connect , are the abundant leadership and communication quotes, such as these: To add value to others, one must first value others. People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude. All good communicators get to the point before their listeners start asking, "What's the point?" The first time you say something, it's heard. The second time, it's recognized, and the third time it's learned. In the end, people are persuaded not by what we say, but by what they understand. People pay attention when something that is said connects with something they greatly desire. Maxwell also says that: Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could . The book covers five principles and five practices to help readers so they can connect one-on-one, in a group, o...

The Five Critical Roles You Need To Build A Winning Team

The new book, Team Players , by leadership expert and New York Times bestselling author, Mark Murphy , explains why a team needs more than strong leaders—it needs the right mix of five roles and talents to succeed. In addition, Murphy reveals that the secret to extraordinary teams isn’t making everyone the same—it’s embracing and leveraging fundamental differences through those five distinct team roles. No amount of teambuilding, trust, or cohesion can overcome having the wrong mix of people in the room. The five essential roles and talents are: The Director assumes a leadership role within the team, guiding its direction and making important, difficult, and even unpopular decisions. The Achiever immerses themselves in the details of accomplishing tasks and getting things done, with a keen eye for delivering error-free work. The Stabilizer keeps the team on track with meticulous planning, processes and procedures, clear timelines, and organi...

How To Overcome Four Common Challenges To Become A Better Communicator

“Raising your game as a communicator is one of the best ways to make a difference in the world, but it takes courage to open up to others and invite others to open up to you” says Michelle D. Gladieux , author of the new book, Communicate With Courage: Taking Risks To Overcome The Four Hidden Challenges . Gladieux explains that those four hidden challenges and sneaky obstacles that can keep you from becoming the best communicator you can be are: Hiding —Fear of exposing your supposed weaknesses. Defining —Putting too much stock into assumptions and being quick to judge. Rationalizing —Using “being realistic” to shield yourself from taking chances, engaging in conflict, or doing other scary but potentially rewarding actions. Settling —Stopping at “good enough” instead of aiming for something better in your interactions. According to Gladieux, these challenges all have something in common. They require taking risks—to reveal yourself, question your beliefs,...

Learn The Power Of Probabilistic Thinking

Dive in for a fascinating read as you discover the life-changing power of probabilistic thinking, taught by Kyle Austin Young in his book, Success Is A Numbers Game . “Every goal that you’re pursuing has two hidden numbers attached to it—a probability of success and a probability of failure,” explains Young, “If you can make the first number bigger and the second number smaller, you can rewrite your predicted outcome.” “Whether you’re trying to start a business, run a marathon, get a promotion, earn a pilot’s license, grow a bumper crop of tomatoes, or sign an acting deal, these two percentages are always lurking in the shadows predicting what is going to happen.” But, adds Young, "Most of us never think about them. We assume our odds are unknowable and unchangeable. This dangerous lie leads millions of people to fail at goals where they were perfectly capable of succeeding. You can choose a smarter path,” encourages Young. In Success is a Numbers Game , ...

Lessons From CEOs On How To Start Well And Perform Quickly As The New CEO

“Walk past any airport bookstore and you’ll find countless books about what it means to be a leader or a CEO, or how to nail your first 90 days as a general executive,” says author Ty Wiggins . “What you won’t find is a book that specifically covers the challenge you face now: the CEO transition – a period that covers your first 6–12 months in the role , which is often the most challenging and crucial time for a company and its new leader.” Fortunately, Wiggins’ new book, The New CEO , fills that educational gap by teaching you the 10 components that make for a successful CEO transition – whether you are a newly announced or newly appointed CEO. These 10 components inform the chapters within the book. “While the ideas are presented linearly, the reality is that some clearly overlap, and others may resolve only to return again,” explains Wiggins. The 10 components are: Approaches… Getting The Message Right Act Discerningly M...

Effective Listening: Do's And Don'ts

Here are some great tips from Michelle Tillis Lederman's book, The 11 Laws of Likability . They are all about: what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener : Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

Daily Intentions For Leaders

Everyone can benefit from the book, Dear Friend , which features bite-sized, daily notes for contemplation, inspiration, connection, and clarity. Busy and stressed business leaders can particularly benefit from the 365 profound, heartfelt reflections from author Michelle Maros , founder of Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life and cohost of the podcast, Life Happens with Barb and Michelle . Dear Friend invites readers to go deep and use the notes as a daily practice that compounds over time, nurturing strength, resilience, and clarity. In just a few minutes each day, this book will offer you a daily reprieve when you feel burned out, beaten down, or overwhelmed by the strains and stresses of modern life. The heart of Dear Friend began in the quiet mornings Michelle shared with her mom, Barb. Every day, they would sit together, reading affirmations or passages from Barb’s beloved books. These small rituals—simple but powerful—set the tone for each day, grounding them in g...

How To Become Your Best-Self Leader Everyday

“By focusing in specific ways on five key leadership elements— Purpose, Process, People, Presence, and Peace —you can increase your time, capacity, energy, and ultimately your leadership impact,” explains Amy Jen Su , author of the book, The Leader You Want To Be: Five Essential Principles for Bringing Out Your Best Self—Every Day . Su shares both Western management thinking and Eastern philosophy to provide a holistic yet hands-on approach to becoming a more effective leader with less stress and more equanimity. She draws on rich and instructive stories of clients, leaders, artists, and athletes. And, she focuses on three foundational tenets: s elf-care, self-awareness, and personal agency . Most important, Su explores in depth, chapter-by-chapter the Five Ps : Purpose – Staying grounded in your passions and contributions, doing your highest and best work that has meaning and is making a difference. Process – Relying on daily practices and routines that honor your natural energy rhyt...

The Five Critical Roles You Need To Build A Winning Team

The book, Team Players , by leadership expert and New York Times bestselling author, Mark Murphy , explains why a team needs more than strong leaders—it needs the right mix of five roles and talents to succeed. In addition, Murphy reveals that the secret to extraordinary teams isn’t making everyone the same—it’s embracing and leveraging fundamental differences through those five distinct team roles. No amount of teambuilding, trust, or cohesion can overcome having the wrong mix of people in the room. The five essential roles and talents are : The Director assumes a leadership role within the team, guiding its direction and making important, difficult, and even unpopular decisions. The Achiever immerses themselves in the details of accomplishing tasks and getting things done, with a keen eye for delivering error-free work. The Stabilizer keeps the team on track with meticulous planning, processes and procedures, clear timelines, and organization. ...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog