Why Understanding Who We Want to Be Aligns Energy With Purpose - Maurizio de Franciscis

In Chapter 12 of 19 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, education entrepreneur and Global Campus (www.globalcampus.com) founder Maurizio de Franciscis shares why identity is such a powerful motivational tool. By understanding identity, we learn what we want, who we want to be, and how we want to feel. De Franciscis finds his identity doing pro-bono teaching, finding value in the sharing and reciprocation. Aligning energy with purpose allows him to thrive and highlights why the concept of mission, for example in religion, motivates individual and group action and achievement. Before founding Global Campus, De Franciscis worked at General Electric. He graduated from Universita degli Studi di Roma - La Sapienza - and earned his MBA from INSEAD.

What Does It Mean to Be a Humanitarian - Adam Carter

In Chapter 2 of 16, micro-philanthropist Adam Carter provides his definition of what it means to be a humanitarian. Carter urges individuals to look beyond defining the word based on humanitarian organizations and think more about the word root, specifically the common humanity amongst society members. By acting on this common bond, built upon equal rights and shared fears, desires, and experiences, Carter captures the meaning of humanitarian purpose. Carter has been pursuing humanitarian work since graduating from the University of Michigan and is the founder of non-profit foundation Cause and Affect (http://www.causeandaffectfoundation.org/).

How Meditation Improves Memoir Writing - Nina Godiwalla

In Chapter 13 of 14 in her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview, author Nina Godiwalla answers "How has meditating helped you be more self-aware and introspective in your writing?" Godiwalla notes how meditation has helped her be more present in every moment, choose where to put her attention, and apply this process in her memoir writing.  Her book "Suits: a Woman on Wall Street" covers some buried and even dark experiences.  The meditation helps Godiwalla get depth in understanding what happened and putting it down on paper.  As a result, she is able to take the reader to a different level in the storytelling experience. Nina Godiwalla is the author of "Suits: A Woman on Wall Street" and the founder and CEO of Mindworks, a provider of leadership, stress management, and diversity training programs. Before starting her business and writing her book, Godiwalla worked in corporate development at Johnson & Johnson and Oxygen Media and investment banking at Morgan Stanley. Godiwalla earned an MBA from Wharton, a MA from Dartmouth and a BBA from the University of Texas.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How has meditating helped you be more self aware and introspective in your writing?

Nina Godiwalla: For me meditation is a general term and it is for a lot of people as well, of being present in every moment so while we’re speaking actually really listening to what you’re saying and not having my mind think about ‘Oh wow, I’m really nervous, does this make sense? It’s a lifestyle in that I can choose where I’m putting my attention, meditation is choosing where you put your attention at every single moment of your life.

So in terms of being able to take that self awareness and understand and quietly be with myself and be comfortable, it’s completely affected my writing specifically the book I’ve written because it’s a memoir and it’s about my life. One of the things is I think we go through experiences and if they don’t work the way we want them to work we kind of can bury them someplace else. And to be honest some of the stuff I wrote about were definitely things that I buried, I didn’t want to go back, I didn’t want to think about them and meditation allows me -- gives me the safety and comfort with myself to go back and visit those experiences and not just visit them but try and understand why I put myself in that situation, why that happened and get that depth and in all honesty when you’re writing you want to take people to that different level, you don’t want to – it doesn’t need to just be ‘Hey this is what happened’ its kind of like, ‘I’m trying to understand what happened’ and when you’re meditating you’re actually getting comfortable enough with yourself to where you’re not denying things, you’re not -- you’re saying ‘I accept the way I acted, I accept what happened and let me take it to a different level’ and I think that way you’re able to take the reader to a different level.

How Gandhi Words Help Align Passion to Purpose - Louise Davis

In Chapter 11 of 20 in her 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, Peer Health Exchange co-founder and social entrepreneur Louise Davis shares her interpretation of Gandhi's words "You must be the change you want to see in the world". Davis begins by identifying values and beliefs - being true to yourself - and then making an impact by taking action to put these passions to work.

How Crowd Wisdom Informs Comedy Presentation - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 13 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, comedian Matt Ruby reflects on lessons learned over first four years performing stand-up and its impact on his style. From early characters, including Mortimer the Steel Baron, improv work, and clever one-liner jokes, Ruby traces transition to longer form, more genuine topics that carry a big payoff to win an audience. Ruby highlights collective audience wisdom and what he has learned about more effectively presenting ideas honestly and openly to engage a room and earn respect while honing his craft.

What Cooking a Meal Together Teaches You About Your Date - Scott Gold

In Chapter 6 of 17, Louisiana-raised author and food writer Scott Gold discusses how shared dining and cooking experiences open doors to understanding a date or significant other's behavior and personality.

Joe Stump on How to Improve Code and Build a Programming Career

In Chapter 8 of 16, Digg.com architect turned SimpleGeo co-founder Joe Stump shares advice for those seeking programming careers. First, Stump recommends openly putting one's work in the public domain so it can be seen, discussed, and refined. For programmers and coders, this means actively contributing to open source communities. Second, Stump advises following passion, not money or acclaim, as only cultivating passion leads to authentic purpose and fulfillment.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  What is your advice to college students, college graduates seeking programming jobs in the Internet space? 

Joe Stump:  I think that my advice for programmers, specifically, is to get involved in open source communities because that gives you exposure to a lot of people that are doing good work.  It also gets your code out there.  IT is almost like if you are an artist, you want people to see your art.  If you are a coder, you should want people to see your code. 

So, we actually, at Digg, almost all the people we hired were active in open source communities.  What also helps with that is open source communities bring together a couple different things:  One you have to code, so I get to look at your code ahead of time.  Also, here are a lot of mailing lists, IRC channels, and things like that so you can get a good sense of how people interact with other people and how people work.

The other thing, too, is that I always tell people when I went to college there were a lot of people getting into computers for all the wrong reasons.   Basically, they heard if I learn how to code, then I can make $85,000 a year immediately out of college, which is true…if you are good at coding.  Normally you are not good at things you don’t like.  Gary Vaynerchuk talks about this all the time where you need to do what you are passionate about – it doesn’t matter what it is but you need to do that - because you suck at everything else. 

It is so true.  If you think about it, when you are doing something you don’t like, you want to get it over with as soon as possible.  Whenever you are doing something you want to get over with as soon as possible, you are going to cut corners, you are going to be sloppy, you are doing anything you can… Think about painting the shed when you were a kid.  The worst paint job ever.  Do it because you love it. 

For instance, a lot of the girls that I have dated say: “I can’t believe you work all the time”.  I’m like “I do something that I am so passionate about it is not work.  Even if I was a pizza delivery guy, I would come home and code all night anyway because I can’t separate those two things.  A lot of people have very separate outlooks – there is my personal life and there is my job and they are separate.  That is not me at all.  They are all intertwined. I am a coder, there is no way around that.

Joe Stump on How Small Town Michigan Childhood Shapes Values

In Chapter 7 of 16 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, web entrepreneur Joe Stump reflects on how growing up in a small, Midwestern Michigan town shaped his values and sense of loyalty to friends, family, and colleagues.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  You spent the majority of your childhood and college growing up in Michigan.  How did that experience kind of contribute to the character and shape who you are today?

Joe Stump:  In Michigan, as you know, lots of good people.  Good, down home, regular folk.  The way things are there, you are brought up in the community to look after each other, take care of each other, support each other, that kind of thing. Everyone is closely connected.  The town where I grew up in was only 3,000 people. 

Everyone knew everyone else.  My parents went to school with everyone else’s parents.  There is a lot of history in that community.  Moving on from Michigan, the thing I notice about me that is different compared to friends that have grown up in the big city, there are core community values that maybe aren’t…

Erik Michielsen:  That speaks to your loyalty.  You are very loyal as a friend and also professionally. 

How to Overcome Fear and Anxiety Moving to a New City - Mark Graham

In Chapter 7 of 13, writer Mark Graham accepts a New York City digital media position at MTV Networks and confronts life change elements leaving Detroit for New York. Born and raised in Michigan, Graham confronts the uncertainty present in leaving behind family and friends for the unknown. Graham prioritizes being himself through the transition, embracing the relocation experience and all the new discovery present in the process.

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Simon Sinek on How Authentic Behavior Builds Trust

In Chapter 7 of 16 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, "Start With Why" author and leadership expert Simon Sinek answers "What is the takeaway from being authentic and what is the stuff we should set aside?" Sinek shares why it is important and valuable being authentic in one's actions. Sinek highlights how truly authentic behavior - believing in what you say and do - builds trust, creates support, and strengthens relationships. Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. Sinek is the author of two books, "Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Come Together and Others Don't" and "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". He is a public speaker, an adjunct professor at Columbia University and a Brandeis University graduate.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen: What is the takeaway from being authentic and what is the stuff we should set aside?

Simon Sinek: The word authenticity is too loosely used. Go ahead, today Erik, I want you to be more authentic.  What are you going to change?  You have no clue.  What authenticity means is the things you say and things you do you actually believe.  We are social animals and trust comes from the feeling we have when you get a sense of somebody. We are social animals and the reason the human race has been successful is because we have the ability to form cultures.  We are good at figuring people out.  It is what makes us successful as a species.   So when you are authentic, when you only say and do the things you actually believe, people will trust you.  When you don`t say the things you believe, you are just trying to get some short term behavior, people will not trust you.  So the importance and value of being authentic is that it is your long term interest that people will support you and stand by you.  People will put up with your failures.  People will help you for no other reason than it helps them. 

Simon Sinek on How to Find a Job You Love and Where You Excel

In Chapter 8 of 16 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, "Start With Why" author Simon Sinek asks why do we choose one job over another and why do we believe what we believe? Finding the right job, interviewing well, and enjoying work requires authenticity and reflection. Sinek advises others to find a job where you can naturally excel. This approach and questions propel both interviewees and interviewers to find the right fit.

Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer who applies his curiosity around why people do what they do to teach leaders and companies how to inspire people. He is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". Sinek holds a BA degree in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How does being authentic help you find the right job?

Simon Sinek: When people write their resumes it is like what I've done, what I've done, what I've done. The question is "why did you show up to work?"  Why do I even have this resume?  Why did you choose to work there?  Why did you choose to work there?  Why did you choose to quit and go there?  It is not a bad thing to quit a job.  If you realize you are a bad fit, get out of there and go somewhere else.  So, the ability for us to talk about what we believe, why organizations exist, and why we choose one job over another increases the likelihood we will find jobs and employees that are good fits for the organization.  You should apply for the jobs where you have a weird visceral reaction to the organization.  Sometimes that means going to meet them.  When you go on an interview, just as much as you are they are interviewing you, you are interviewing them.  This is where you are going to spend more time, in a week or in a day, than with your family or in your own home.  If you don’t want to go there every day, don't go there every day.  Wanting to go somewhere has nothing to do with how much money they will pay you. That will wear thin quickly when you hate your life.  The question is who are you going to work with, I'd like to meet the people I will have direct contact with, who is going to be my boss, who is going to be my mentor?  What culture do you have here?  You have to ask them questions, not about how much are you going to pay me and what are the benefits?  Ask them what life is going to be like and if this is a place where you naturally excel?

Simon Sinek on How to Identify Your Passion and Create Results From It

In Chapter 16 of 16 of his 2009 interview with Capture Your Flag host Erik Michielsen, "Start With Why" author Simon Sinek shares why passion is a result and not an action. Finding one's passion requires creating a process to make it actionable. Sinek shares why the first step is to identify what you love and then to continue to enable this root element through action.

Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer who applies his curiosity around why people do what they do to teach leaders and companies how to inspire people. He is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". Sinek holds a BA degree in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen: What are your thoughts and what is your approach in finding and building upon passions?

Simon Sinek: Passion is not an actionable word. It is correct that those who do what they are passionate about do better, but it is not helpful advice.  The question is where does passion come from?  Passion is a result.  Passion is an energy.  Passion is the feeling you have when you are engaged in something you love.  Passion is the feeling you have when you would probably do this for free and you can't believe someone pays you for it.  We mistake that passion is something we do in our private lives but it shouldn't be done in our careers.  I'm a firm believer in you are who you are and anyone who says they are different at home than they are at work then in one of those two places you are lying.  The goal is to make everything you do at home at work something you are excited to do.  So how do you find the thing that you are excited to do?  It is easier than you think.  What are the things you would do for free?  What do you do when nobody tells you to do them? How can you recreate that feeling and be paid for it? I'm very involved in the art world.  I love to go to museums and galleries and I love to go see dances and performances because I want to see how others are interpreting the world.  That inspires me.  New ideas, new thoughts, new ways of looking at the world are things that interest me, privately, and I seek it out and pay money for it.  So, does that mean I have to have a career in the arts?  No.  That means I have to have a career where new ideas are explored, where people are experimenting and trying things out and I have to explore new ideas and try things out and I'm just as excited to go to work each day as I am to go do something on a Saturday night.  The idea of finding your passion is ironically simple. You should be doing something you love sometime. What is the stuff that you enjoy and what is the stuff that you love?  Who are the people you love and what do they all have in common?