
Cape, Spandex, Briefcase
Leadership Lessons from Superheroes
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $14.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Harry Roger Williams III
-
By:
-
David Kahn
About this listen
Why are some people more effective leaders? What makes them more engaging, more influential, and more successful than their peers?
In Cape, Spandex, Briefcase leadership expert David Kahn tells the story of a motivated young man who yearns to be successful in his new leadership role. He holds the manager title, but is struggling to become an actual leader. After an especially horrific experience, he is sent to a leadership coach...but why is this "expert" working in a comic book shop?
With Superman, Spider-Man and their costumed companions serving as paradigms of what it means to be a leader, this book introduces the five superpowers of leaders and presents practical tools and skills to address your leadership responsibilities while increasing your ability to influence, motivate, and earn respect.
By practicing Cape, Spandex, Briefcase principles, you will enhance your ability to:
- Be a more effective leader by developing greater confidence in your capabilities
- Adapt your leadership style to different scenarios, while remaining true to your values and principles
- Align your team's objectives with your professional values and vision.
- Manage organizational politics and build relationships to achieve both professional and personal goals
- Become an empowering leader who fosters effective teamwork
- Spot and develop the next class of high-potential leaders within the organization
- Utilize influence techniques to enhance your ability to persuade others
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
- A Leadership Fable
- By: Patrick Lencioni
- Narrated by: Charles Stransky; introduction by Patrick Lencioni
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In keeping with the parable style, Patrick Lencioni begins by telling the fable of a woman who, as CEO of a struggling Silicon Valley firm, took control of a dysfunctional executive committee and helped its members succeed as a team. Story time over, Lencioni offers explicit instructions for overcoming the human behavioral tendencies that he says corrupt teams. Succinct yet sympathetic, this guide will be a boon for those struggling with the inherent difficulties of leading a group.
-
-
Clear Headed Guidance on Building Teams
- By Mark on 01-18-03
By: Patrick Lencioni
-
The Goal
- A Process of Ongoing Improvement - 30th Anniversary Edition
- By: Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this intriguing business novel, which illustrates state-of-the-art economic theory, Alex Rogo is a UniCo plant manager whose factory and marriage are failing. To revitalize the plant, he follows piecemeal advice from an elusive former college professor who teaches, for example, that reduction in the efficiency of some plant operations may make the entire operation more productive. Alex's attempts to find the path to profitability and to engage his employees in the struggle involve the listener; and thankfully the authors' economic models.
-
-
The Goal - still relevant today
- By Wooden Nichols on 05-03-15
By: Eliyahu M. Goldratt, and others
-
Good to Great
- Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't
- By: Jim Collins
- Narrated by: Jim Collins
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Built To Last, the defining management study of the 90s, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning. But what about companies that are not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?
-
-
Good info, over-the-top narration
- By Anaxamaxan on 08-31-10
By: Jim Collins
-
The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business
- By: Josh Kaufman
- Narrated by: Josh Kaufman
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Josh Kaufman founded PersonalMBA.com as an alternative to the business school boondoggle. His blog has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers to the best business books and most powerful business concepts of all time. Now, he shares the essentials of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, negotiation, operations, productivity, systems design, and much more, in one comprehensive volume. The Personal MBA distills the most valuable business lessons into simple, memorable mental models that can be applied to real-world challenges.
-
-
Not an MBA, But A Damn Decent Experience.
- By Cori on 01-20-13
By: Josh Kaufman
-
The Coaching Habit
- Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever
- By: Michael Bungay Stanier
- Narrated by: Daniel Maté
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Michael Bungay Stanier's The Coaching Habit, coaching becomes a regular, informal part of your day so managers and their teams can work less hard and have more impact. Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills, Bungay Stanier reveals how to unlock your peoples' potential. He unpacks seven essential coaching questions to demonstrate how - by saying less and asking more - you can develop coaching methods that produce great results.
-
-
What's on your mind?
- By A. Yoshida on 08-11-16
-
Great by Choice
- By: Jim Collins, Morten T. Hansen
- Narrated by: Jim Collins
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The new question: Ten years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? In Great by Choice, Collins and his colleague, Morten T. Hansen, enumerate the principles for building a truly great enterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous, and fast-moving times. The new study: Great by Choice distinguishes itself from Collins’s prior work by its focus on the type of unstable environments faced by leaders today.
-
-
an unendurable narration
- By Mary on 11-26-11
By: Jim Collins, and others
-
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
- A Leadership Fable
- By: Patrick Lencioni
- Narrated by: Charles Stransky; introduction by Patrick Lencioni
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In keeping with the parable style, Patrick Lencioni begins by telling the fable of a woman who, as CEO of a struggling Silicon Valley firm, took control of a dysfunctional executive committee and helped its members succeed as a team. Story time over, Lencioni offers explicit instructions for overcoming the human behavioral tendencies that he says corrupt teams. Succinct yet sympathetic, this guide will be a boon for those struggling with the inherent difficulties of leading a group.
-
-
Clear Headed Guidance on Building Teams
- By Mark on 01-18-03
By: Patrick Lencioni
-
The Goal
- A Process of Ongoing Improvement - 30th Anniversary Edition
- By: Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this intriguing business novel, which illustrates state-of-the-art economic theory, Alex Rogo is a UniCo plant manager whose factory and marriage are failing. To revitalize the plant, he follows piecemeal advice from an elusive former college professor who teaches, for example, that reduction in the efficiency of some plant operations may make the entire operation more productive. Alex's attempts to find the path to profitability and to engage his employees in the struggle involve the listener; and thankfully the authors' economic models.
-
-
The Goal - still relevant today
- By Wooden Nichols on 05-03-15
By: Eliyahu M. Goldratt, and others
-
Good to Great
- Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't
- By: Jim Collins
- Narrated by: Jim Collins
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Built To Last, the defining management study of the 90s, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning. But what about companies that are not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?
-
-
Good info, over-the-top narration
- By Anaxamaxan on 08-31-10
By: Jim Collins
-
The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business
- By: Josh Kaufman
- Narrated by: Josh Kaufman
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Josh Kaufman founded PersonalMBA.com as an alternative to the business school boondoggle. His blog has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers to the best business books and most powerful business concepts of all time. Now, he shares the essentials of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, negotiation, operations, productivity, systems design, and much more, in one comprehensive volume. The Personal MBA distills the most valuable business lessons into simple, memorable mental models that can be applied to real-world challenges.
-
-
Not an MBA, But A Damn Decent Experience.
- By Cori on 01-20-13
By: Josh Kaufman
-
The Coaching Habit
- Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever
- By: Michael Bungay Stanier
- Narrated by: Daniel Maté
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Michael Bungay Stanier's The Coaching Habit, coaching becomes a regular, informal part of your day so managers and their teams can work less hard and have more impact. Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills, Bungay Stanier reveals how to unlock your peoples' potential. He unpacks seven essential coaching questions to demonstrate how - by saying less and asking more - you can develop coaching methods that produce great results.
-
-
What's on your mind?
- By A. Yoshida on 08-11-16
-
Great by Choice
- By: Jim Collins, Morten T. Hansen
- Narrated by: Jim Collins
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The new question: Ten years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? In Great by Choice, Collins and his colleague, Morten T. Hansen, enumerate the principles for building a truly great enterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous, and fast-moving times. The new study: Great by Choice distinguishes itself from Collins’s prior work by its focus on the type of unstable environments faced by leaders today.
-
-
an unendurable narration
- By Mary on 11-26-11
By: Jim Collins, and others
-
The Charisma Myth
- How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism
- By: Olivia Fox Cabane
- Narrated by: Lisa Cordileione
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if charisma could be taught? For the first time, science and technology have taken charisma apart, figured it out and turned it into an applied science: In controlled laboratory experiments, researchers could raise or lower people's level of charisma as if they were turning a dial. What you'll find here is practical magic: unique knowledge, drawn from a variety of sciences, revealing what charisma really is and how it works. You'll get both the insights and the techniques you need to apply this knowledge. The world will become your lab, and every person you meet, a chance to experiment.
-
-
the mystery of the missing workbook
- By kwinebold on 12-10-13
-
Radical Candor
- Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
- By: Kim Scott
- Narrated by: Kim Scott
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the time we learn to speak, we're told that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. When you become a manager, it’s your job to say it--and your obligation. Author Kim Scott was an executive at Google and then at Apple, where she developed a class on how to be a good boss. She has earned growing fame in recent years with her vital new approach to effective management, Radical Candor. Radical Candor is a simple idea: to be a good boss, you have to Care Personally at the same time that you Challenge Directly.
-
-
Good book but hard to listen to.
- By Chris on 02-02-18
By: Kim Scott
-
The Fifth Discipline
- The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization
- By: Peter M. Senge
- Narrated by: Peter M. Senge
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Peter Senge's groundbreaking ideas on building organizations have made him a household name among corporate managers. His theories help businesses to clarify their goals, to defy the odds, to more clearly understand threats, and to recognize new opportunities. He introduces managers to a new source of competitive advantage, and offers a marvelously empowering approach to work.
-
-
Abridged books are inadequate
- By Greg on 02-26-08
By: Peter M. Senge
-
The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs
- How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience
- By: Carmine Gallo
- Narrated by: Carmine Gallo
- Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether he was introducing the latest iPad or delivering a keynote presentation, Steve Jobs electrified audiences with his incomparable style and showmanship. He didn’t just convey information in his presentations; he told a story, painted a picture, and shared a vision. He gave his audience a transformative experience that was unique, inspiring, and unforgettable. Now you can do it too, by learning the specific techniques that made Jobs the most captivating communicator on the world stage.
-
-
I was duped!
- By Marika on 04-11-13
By: Carmine Gallo
-
The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive
- A Leadership Fable
- By: Patrick Lencioni
- Narrated by: Charles Stransky; introduction by Patrick Lencioni
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As CEO, most everything that Rich O'Connor did had something to do with at least one of the four disciplines on his famed "yellow sheet." Rich never suspected that it would become the blueprint of an employee's plan to destroy the firm. Best selling author Lencioni brings us a fable that focuses on a leader's crucial role in building a healthy organization.
-
-
A great reminder about the important basics.
- By Joel Ordesky on 03-08-03
By: Patrick Lencioni
-
Fierce Conversations
- Achieving Success at Work & in Life, One Conversation at a Time
- By: Susan Craig Scott M.D.
- Narrated by: Susan Craig Scott
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the master teacher of positive change through powerful communication, Susan Scott wants you to succeed. To do that, you must transform everyday conversations in effective ways to get your message across.
-
-
loved it
- By Jason R. Parrish on 08-01-17
-
Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager Revised Edition
- Gain the Mindset and Skillset for Getting What You Need to Suceed
- By: Ken Blanchard, Susan Fowler
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through a captivating business parable, Ken Blanchard and coauthors Susan Fowler and Laurence Hawkins show listeners how to apply the world-renowned Situational Leadership II method to their own development. The story centers on Steve, a young advertising executive who is about to lose his job. Through a series of talks with a One Minute Manager protégé named Cayla, Steve learns the three secrets of self leadership.
-
-
Be an asset to your company, not a liability.
- By Xavier Foley on 01-01-18
By: Ken Blanchard, and others
-
How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less
- By: Nicholas Boothman
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boothman
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether meeting a new client or bumping into a potential mate, you only have a few seconds to make a favorable impression. Is that really possible? Author Nicholas Boothman, a lecturer and licensed master practitioner of neurolinguistic programming, believes yes! He introduces a revolutionary approach to face-to-face communication that will help anyone succeed at making meaningful, and immediate, connections.
-
-
Absolutely Wonderful
- By Maggie Baumann on 06-09-04
-
Long Story Short
- The Only Storytelling Guide You'll Ever Need
- By: Margot Leitman
- Narrated by: Margot Leitman
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Did you ever wish you could tell a story that leaves others spellbound? Storytelling teacher and champion Margot Leitman will show you how! With a fun, irreverent, and infographic approach, this guide breaks a story into concrete components with ways to improve content, structure, emotional impact, and delivery through personal anecdotes, relatable examples, and practical exercises.
-
-
Draw in your audience by telling stories
- By A. Yoshida on 10-27-16
By: Margot Leitman
-
Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
- By: Mignon Fogarty
- Narrated by: Mignon Fogarty
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mignon Fogarty, a.k.a. Grammar Girl, is determined to wipe out bad grammar—but she's also determined to make the process as painless as possible. One year ago, she created a weekly podcast to tackle some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. More than seven million episodes have now been downloaded, and Mignon has dispensed grammar tips on Oprah and appeared on the pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.
-
-
Worthwhile But Not in Audio Form
- By Patricia B Tripoli on 09-25-10
By: Mignon Fogarty
-
Management
- Revised Edition
- By: Peter F. Drucker
- Narrated by: Sam Tsoutsouvas
- Length: 19 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The essential book on management from the man who invented the discipline. Now completely revised and updated for the first time.
-
-
Comprehensive - Maybe too Comprehensive
- By Networkoholic on 10-08-09
By: Peter F. Drucker
-
Understanding Michael Porter
- The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy
- By: Joan Magretta
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Porter’s groundbreaking ideas on competition and strategy have unfolded over three decades and are spread across a dauntingly long list of publications. Every manager can name individual pieces of his work - competitive advantage, the value chain, five forces - but no one, not even Porter himself, has put the entire puzzle together to reveal it as an integrated whole. This lucid, concise audiobook does just that. This book provides an engaging summary of Porter’s ideas and an invaluable synthesis of this important body of work....
-
-
Horrible and pompous narration
- By Amazon Customer on 08-28-13
By: Joan Magretta
What listeners say about Cape, Spandex, Briefcase
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lylian
- 04-18-17
Very interesting
Very interesting book with leadership lessons approached in an easy way. Easy, fast paced book, very helpful for those who want to learn more on how to deal with day-tô-day issues in the business world, highly recommend it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LaPazBC
- 03-31-17
Genius!
What did you love best about Cape, Spandex, Briefcase?
This book is a light,fun, and entertaining way to learn Leadership skills. It contains practical examples of leadership mistakes and how to correct them using superheroes analogies Genious!
The narration can appeal to young emerging leaders as well as adults .
Harry Roger Williams III has a full, rich voice, and makes the listening experience very enjoyable.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mary
- 05-18-17
Interesting Take
This was a nice quick and easy listen with valuable insight weaved in. The narrator did a great job, though at times his cadence seemed a bit off. I laughed out loud a few times, scaring the person next to me.
The book covers five key skills necessary to be a leader. The authors usage of comic book heroes to relate to these skills was easy to follow.
This audio book was graciously provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tiki-May Crampton
- 02-20-17
good book bad performance
The book was really good. One of the few leadership books that had tangible solutions. The performance was not so great. There was no pauses or emphasis. It was read like a text book which might work for other leadership books but this one has an actual story through it. Also as a book which talks about story telling you kinda except that when listening to it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Claire
- 04-02-17
One of the top 5 leadership books I've read
Would you listen to Cape, Spandex, Briefcase again? Why?
Yes, in fact I intend to listen to it at least 3 more times to make sure I've taken in the concepts that it covers.
This book covers 5 key skills that are necessary to be a good leader and relates them to the actions of superheros. The comparisons makes the concepts more memorable as well as provides examples of how they can be applied (what they look like in action).
I'm not a comic book fan, but this method of conveying the 5 leadership skills was still powerful for me and really resonated. It also made the book fun and interesting to listen to.
Which character – as performed by Harry Roger Williams, III – was your favorite?
I didn't really have a favorite character, they all had important roles to play in the book and how the concepts are communicated.
The narration was really well done, I loved all the character voices and the narration showed a lot of skill. It was lovely to listen to and really added to a book that would be a good read in any format.
Any additional comments?
If you want to become a leader or you're in a leadership position without having received training in how to be a leader then this book is a must read.
Note: This book was provided free by the author/narrator/publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jason
- 07-12-17
The title explains it all
Leadership as explained through comic books and superheros.
"This book was provided by at no cost for and honest review."
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Striker
- 10-26-17
Great for Professionals
This was a good book for professionals and just about anyone who might find themselves leading people. There were some great tips and development goals for professionals like myself to take and expand their leadership skills.
I thought the narrator did a good job. I gave him 5 but it was more like 4.3 rounded up.
I requested and received a free copy of this audiobook from the author, publisher, or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review. I was NOT required to write a positive review and this reflects my honest opinion of the work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A. Beckstrom
- 06-07-18
Capes Take on the "Business" Novel
This review is for the audiobook version of Cape, Spandex, Briefcase: Leadership Lessons from Superheroes. Cape is a business “novel” in the vein of Goldratt’s The Goal and Leoncini’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and like those books it’s a better business book than a novel.
The concept of Cape is actually quite fun. A struggling businessman is mentored by a comic book guru on how to be a leader (not just manager), help his struggling team, and maybe save his own career.
All the examples come from classics like Superman, Batman, the X-Men, Spider-Man, Shazam (Captain Marvel), Aquaman, the Watchmen, etc. The examples were relevant and made sense. This book isn’t for everyone. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who didn’t at least lean a little on the geeky side. Not that you wouldn't learn anything, but a lot of the humor (in gags) might be lost.
The narrator, Harry Roger Williams, III, was not a good fit, IMHO. I wish Stan Lee could have given voice to this tale (Excelsior!) or someone who does a reasonably good facsimile of a Stan Lee impression. That combination of exuberance, charm, and a little bit of maturity (for a business book using comics for inspiration) would have enhanced the experience.
***Full Disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Angie Whitten
- 04-11-17
Fun story with decent lessons
What did you like best about this story?
I thought it was fun how they used superheros to show different personality traits that are desirable in leaders. It kept an interesting twist and kept me engaged.
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
The narrator's cadence was distracting at times, but after I got used to it I didn't notice much.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It made me chuckle quite a few times.
Any additional comments?
"I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator."
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mel
- 03-11-22
Not engaging
This was very difficult to listen to. I forced myself through Chapter 13 and could take no more.
The narrator should be on the stage, not recording audio books. The cadence was entirely too repetitive and made it difficult to remain focused on what was being said.
And the author’s redundant references to superheroes was boring and unrelatable to me.
Not for me.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!