Andy Lopata: 6 Books, 25 Years, One Big Lesson About Building Authority

Should you write a business book? Most people in the author/speaker world will tell you yes, without hesitation — it’s “the thing you have to do” to be seen as credible. Andy Lopata disagrees, and in this episode he explains why.

Andy Lopata is an internationally recognized expert in professional relationships, with more than 25 years of experience helping organizations unlock the strategic value of connection. He’s the author of six books, host of the Connected Leadership Podcast, a regular contributor to Psychology Today, and a writer for Harvard Business Review. He’s worked with organizations including PayPal, Google, Harrods, the BBC, and Said Business School, and has spent his career helping leaders and teams build the relationships that drive collaboration, trust, and long-term results.

In this conversation, Joe Gregory and Andy dig into the real, unfiltered story behind six books written over 20+ years — what worked, what didn’t, and what he’d tell anyone thinking about writing their own:

– Why a book can hurt your reputation as easily as help it
– What actually built Andy’s authority more than his books did
– The book that took 3 years and 4 drafts — and still underperformed
– The book that took 2 weeks and became an award finalist
– The infamous Amazon #1 bestseller campaign that got beaten by Noel Edmonds
– Andy’s current work on “relational intelligence in the age of AI”

Timestamps:
00:00 Cold open
01:05 Who is Andy Lopata
01:37 What made Andy write his first book
07:39 Should everybody write a book?
11:38 Articles vs. books: which built more authority
14:15 When is the right time to write a book?
16:08 The 3-year book that underperformed
18:06 The 2-week book that became an award finalist
21:37 The Amazon bestseller stunt (and Noel Edmonds)
24:48 Relational intelligence in the age of AI
29:54 The Relationship Matrix framework
32:25 Where to find Andy

Connect with Andy: andylopata.com