This Sustainable Life

Do you care about the environment?Do you care about leading?The Leadership and the Environment podcast andNYU's School of Liberal Studiesinvite you to improve both at aPanel of Leadership and Environment ExpertsTuesday, April 3, 6pm – 8pmNYU Silver Building, 100 Washington Sq E (at Washington Sq N), room 405Free, register hereFeaturing Vincent StanleyVincent, co-author with Yvon Chouinard of The Responsible Company, has been with Patagonia since its beginning in 1973, including executive roles as head of sales or marketing. Informally, he is Patagonia’s chief storyteller. He helped develop the Footprint Chronicles, the company’s interactive website that outlines the social and environmental impact of its products; the Common Threads Partnership; and Patagonia Books. He serves as the company’s Director, Patagonia Philosophy, and is a visiting fellow at the Yale School of Management. He is also a poet whose work has appeared in Best American Poetry. Robin NagleRobin's book, Picking Up, is an ethnography of New York City’s Department of Sanitation based on a decade of work with the Department, including working as a uniformed sanitation worker. She is also a clinical professor of anthropology and environmental studies in NYU’s School of Liberal Studies, with research in the new interdisciplinary field of discard studies. She considers the category of material culture known generically as waste, with a specific emphasis on the infrastructures and organizational demands that municipal garbage imposes on urban areas. Since 2006 she has been the DSNY’s anthropologist-in-residence, an unsalaried position structured around several projects. Her TED talk gives a quick overview of and more detail about her work. RJ KhalafRJ is a senior at New York University pursuing a degree in Global Liberal Studies with a concentration in Politics, Rights, and Development and a minor in Social Entrepreneurship. Recently named one of NYU's most influential students by Washington Square News, he is the President of the NYU Muslim Students Association and is a Dalai Lama Fellow. RJ is the founder and director of LEAD Palestine, an organization that aims to inspire, motivate, and empower the next generation of Palestine's youth through a hands-on and fun leadership-based summer camp. Joshua SpodekJoshua PhD MBA, bestselling author of Leadership Step by Step and host of the award-winning Leadership and the Environment podcast, is an adjunct professor at NYU, leadership coach and workshop leader for Columbia Business School, columnist for Inc., and founder of SpodekAcademy.com.  Free, register here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I created this podcast to bring leadership to environmental action.Who leads?As much as I value science and education, scientists and educators rarely lead effectively. We've mistakenly looked to them for leadership for too long. For science and facts, I see looking to them, but motivation? I don't see it.Besides, the science is overwhelming and everyone knows enough facts. Even if you doubt global warming, you don't want mercury in your fish or litter on the beach.How about a man who got over 100 million people to stand and cheer, winning the Super Bowl?Today's episode features Philadelphia Eagle #50 Bryan Braman, about to block a punt in this picture.[I predict you'll find yourself happily surprised at how much he cares and acts environmentally---to say nothing of his humility and dedication to give his all on the field, starting years before the game.Does his achievement sound relevant to the environment: giving, acting for an uncertain goal, caring, teamwork, enjoying the challenge?The challenge now is to motivate action among people who care. Listening to Bryan renews my faith that our greatest joys, memories, relationships, and achievements come from trying, working, challenging ourselves, and persevering, not comfort and convenience.I'd love a Super Bowl ring, but Bryan shares that the work to get there is the reward.This picture looks sweet and what I learn from Bryan is that you can achieve the same feeling for yourself. All you need is to value and enjoy the challenge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I encourage you to review RJ's leadership program in Palestine for yourself. Check out www.leadpalestine.com.RJ Khalaf is my youngest guest so far, still an undergrad at NYU, but achieving beyond student status. He took my social entrepreneurship classes.In this episode, you'll hear RJ on his passion and success: a leadership program that teaches leadership skills to Palestinian kids who would otherwise throw stones or worse, as you'll hear. He makes it happen at the New Askar refugee camp, which has been around for more than 50 years.RJ says he feels in over his head, but he's acting on his values. He teaches leadership to come from kindness and care. He acts with integrity, discipline, compassion, vision, and things leaders twice his age often lack.The camp students and mentors love the message.You'll also hear about his environment challenge---one many listeners can probably relate to, but few have acted on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After sharing my "after" stories about after taking on my environmental challenges, in this episode I share the "before" situations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David shares what happens when you act on your values:Act on your values -> better life -> act on your values more -> yet better life -> etcThis cycle is the opposite mainstream society suggests---that environmental action distracts from getting ahead, costs more, or whatever excuse.Acting on your values distracts from living by others' values---in particular, the values of people and institutions trying to influence you most. Who are they? Top ones I think of include:Ads trying to sell you aspiration"Food" companies trying to sell you sugar, fat, and saltNews media selling you outrage, fear, and offenseTV and movies selling you violence and sexand so on.Your first steps away from it reveal how rewarding and, after the initial struggle, easy continuing is.David shares his mental blocksYou still have to start, which David shares.Conversations with people who have acted, as David has, differ from with people who haven't. People who act are less defensive, less "what about you", more thoughtful, and more enthusiastic to act more.Once you start, you'll find many reasons to continue. The ones not to continue---lethargy, complacency, conforming, etc---are ones you probably want to grow out of if you listen to a podcast with the word "Leadership" in the title.What's next?You can hear David on the verge of taking on greater challenges. What will he do next? Will his changes influence TED?Listen to hear what he starts considering for more living by his values. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David's challenged himself to reduce his meat eating. Right off the bat, he said he found it way better and easier than expected. He felt good and wants to do more.What are you waiting for?Chances are your choice to live by your values will be easier and you'll want to do more.You'll also hear from David how he made it work---using his community, choosing his beliefs, considering his goals, and so on.He feels physically better. This conversation set a tone for the podcast of finding joy in the change.The value of acting and involving othersYou might wonder why he didn't change earlier. He knew the issues and felt the motivation before. Yet he sounded happily surprised at his results.That's the value of acting, not just talking and thinking. Sharing with others engages and attracts them to help. You have to lead them, not accept their criticism based on the values of a system you are rejecting.As you think about your values and a challenge to act on it, his experience implies you will enjoy it more than you expect. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having worked with many people and generations, Frances sees great hope in millennials. She points to research that they are like the so-called Greatest Generation, who fought World War II and then helped rebuild the world. Moreover, we see them as having done it because "it was the right thing to do," not fame or fortune.The environment could use such perspective and results. I hope she's right.I recommend listening to how she has made her life about taking on challenges, which bring her emotional reward. She takes them on deliberately. I believe she expects that work serving others will create emotional reward and meaning.I didn't hear her talk about pursuing comfort and convenience. I think she knows that taking easy, traditional routes don't create long-term reward.The result? I doubt you'll find a happier person, nor a more respectable and accomplished circle of friends and colleagues.I share her main environmental leadership message: that working for others improves your life. Serving others makes you feel good. This perspective contrasts with the predominant feelings I see of "I want to act but if others don't it won't matter" and guilt.She describes creating meaning through serving others, not hoping for it.I'm particularly taken by her characterization of how the men in her life served: "It was just what we did." I don't hear that voice today on the environment, but I'm working to create it.Something you don't hear in the recording that I happened to see in her notes after we finished. She wrote a fourth 'R' here:Reduce, reuse, recycle, responsibilityShe didn't refer to environmental challenges. She called them opportunities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you treat the world?True to form, Joel committed to a double challenge of avoiding bottled beverages and picking up trash, so we talked about both.I recommend trying the challenge of picking up trash daily for a month or so. It takes almost no time or effort but gives you insight into how little many people value material objects or how much they pollute. Or maybe their ignorance.Joel and I talked about the results. We can't figure it out, but you can't help considering it when you experience how people treat the world.When was the last time you littered? Where does it come from? We speculated. Write me if you have ideas. I find it very confusing.We don't value stuff. That's why we give it away.I hope you see that acquiring bags, disposable things, and so on lead to garbage, which is waste, which hurts others. Stop acquiring.Also true to form, Joel remarked that making a difference is "almost too easy," yet he learned more about the environment than he would have reading statistics.TakeawaysHabits make new behaviors trivial, no mental effort. Habits enable you to live by your values. In his case, beyond the environment, he ate and drank less sugar and unhealthy stuff with gain in joy and refreshment. He experienced more nature.I don't know your values, but if they include clean land, air, and water, he presents two you can start with little effort.Be warned: you'll care more. You'll change. You'll improve as a leader.You'll be surprised and notice others' behavior and yours. You'll probably become less tolerant for litter and waste. Don't we want to tolerate litter less?With experience, the skills you learn might get you promoted, hired, funded elsewhere in life.Start your snowball. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're here for leadership, especially personal leadership, you're going to hear about one of the most important things you can do to improve.What Joel talks about and how he lives are how you develop skills people think you can't learn, such as integrity, discipline, and resilience. You can, but you have to act---specifically to challenge yourself, not just passively read about or watch.We talk about cold showers, a big sidcha of mine, and one of the simplest ways to challenge yourself. If you've read about my cold shower practice and found it confusing, our conversation brings a couple experienced guys talking about it.You are your habits. Joel turned his life around with his, which is what this podcast is about. From nothing, he lived world class accomplishments, setting records running ultramarathons and starting schools in the process.I recommend watching his TEDx talk to see how much you can change your life.If you want to affect the environment, you will face "I want to act but if no one else does it won't make a difference," in others if not yourself. Joel's life is the opposite and it looks like he loves his life more than the people who accept such lack of meaning, accepting the resulting complacency. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many people excuse themselves from acting on the environment with the complaint "but acting on the environment will distract me from getting ahead."There is national and global demand for environmental leadership. How they miss that opportunity to advance at any level if they act, I don't know. Maybe fear?I think they're expressing a lack of imagination. Most of these people who think they are choosing leadership are actually following traditional paths set by others' values also known as the rat race.Today's guest shows what opportunity you can create for yourself.With no industry experience, connections, or money, Sandy Reisky followed the huge demand he saw for renewable energy production. Without relevant background he just attended industry events, learned, connected, and planned.The results? How about starting a company from scratch in 2009 that now builds about 10% of Americas new wind energy installations (on average over the past three years).Listen for his story and to learn where he sees new opportunities with demand for leadership.If you want to lead in the environment (or anywhere), Sandy is one of the most accomplished people to learn from. You don't have to start billion-dollar companies or supply national-level power to make a difference, but the opportunities are there at every level.If you don't know where to start, you can start by volunteering with Generation 180.And I recommend watching Generation 180's one-minute video "The New Face of Energy", which I consider the future of environmental leadership. Then watch Sandy's presentation on Generation 180's core mission---to spread the idea that energy awareness is an idea whose time has come. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.