Why I'm Embracing a Major Career Change at 48

14 years ago, on a plane from New York to Boston, I met a man named Frank, who would change my life in a few key ways. His full name was Frank Lautenberg and he had had two incredible careers: first, as a businessperson, he was an early partner and CEO of the payroll company ADP, which he took public in 1961. Then, as a United States senator from New Jersey for nearly three decades, he was a leading proponent for legislation against drunk driving, pro-Israel, and for strong environmental regulations and consumer protections.

As a former NYC math teacher-turned-entrepreneur, I had also been interested in serving my community and impacting the world at scale. But 14 years ago, in that chance plane meeting and a couple of mentoring sessions thereafter, he impressed upon me the importance of family first: he told me his family would be his greatest legacy. I decided to hold off on getting involved in government and to focus on my growing family and growing Likeable business.

At the time, my wife and I had two daughters. A couple years later, we had a son, and we named him Seth Franklin after Mr. Lautenberg. We were fortunate to sell Likeable, and I went on to start a bunch of other companies and write a bunch of books. Several of those companies and books have failed - and I've learned more from my failures and mistakes than my successes, for sure. But I'm also proud of the impact I've had with over 1 thousand employees and millions of readers, with articles like this one on likeable leadership.

The political climate in my town of North Hempstead, NY, and really, all throughout the United States today, has become brutal. Whatever party you're in, it is partisan at nearly every level and it has gotten uglier and uglier over the last several years. People on both sides of the politcal spectrum either don't talk to each other or throw insults back and forth. To make matters worse, inflation has skyrocketed and it's gotten hard out there for a lot of people. It is time for a change, the timing is now right for me to serve, and as Margaret Mead famously said:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

So with those 2 things in mind I have decided to run for the chief executive position in my community, the Town Supervior of North Hemsptead, the 5th largest town in the country!

The 3 key areas of my platform:

1) Help REVIVE small businesses and Main streets by making it easier to open and THRIVE.

2) Use technology and innovation to make local government more efficient so I can reduce taxes, maintain needed services and help all families THRIVE.

3) Restore LIKEABLE GOVERNMENT: where leaders focus on listening, responsiveness, transparency, adaptability, accountability and gratitude. Likeable leadership starts with me, and when we do these three things, NORTH HEMPSTEAD COMES ALIVE!

I've never done anything like this before and I'm terrified of what politics may bring: negative campaigning and mudslinging from my opponent, having to raise at least $1 million from friends and family and supporters, and potential time away from my family, to name a few fears. But I've also written a lot on fear and I know that the antidote to fear is courage. I've got it, thanks to many great leaders who have mentored me like Frank, may God rest his soul.

I've also never done anything inside the box (see: Crunch n Munch guy, Sponsored wedding and Free therapy for Mets fans) and this campaign will be no different. I'll be giving people an inside look at all of the ups and downs and inner workings of the campaign, on social media, on my website, and in The Candidate, the first-ever-of-its-kind weekly podcast to dive deep into a local campaign. I hope you'll give it a listen and give me feedback, so I can make it better!

Through all of this, of course I hope to win and be able to serve - but more important, I hope to help start a movement towards likeable leadership, towards more non-politicians like me getting involved, and most important, towards positive change for the world.

After all, we're all in this together!