How to Improve a Band Audition - Conrad Doucette

In Chapter 14 of 21 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, musician and Takka Takka drummer Conrad Doucette answers "How Has Auditioning New Band Members Taught You to Be a More Effective Interviewer?"  Doucette learns to lower prejudices and stay open-minded through the process.  The process must meet two needs - finding someone that individually and also collectively fits into the band chemistry.  He notes how establishing a sense of trust helps facilitate the auditioning and interviewing process.  Doucette is the drummer for the Brooklyn-based band Takka Takka.  He also performs with The National, Okkervil River, and Alina Simone.  When not performing, Doucette works as a copywriter, blogger, and digital media producer.  He has worked at Blender, Fuse TV, and Heavy.com.  Doucette earned his BA in History from the University of Michigan. 

How Reality TV Show Goes From Pitch to Pilot - Hattie Elliot

In Chapter 14 of 16 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, The Grace List founder and entrepreneur Hattie Elliot answers "What Has Developing a Reality TV Show Taught You About How the Entertainment Industry Works?"  As a businessperson, Elliot faces a steep learning curve understanding how things work in television.  She learns to manage expectations, work with a large, talented team, and adapt her business world to the television world as her reality TV show goes from pitch to sizzle to pilot.  Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, which is redefining the dating world by creating opportunities for singles to revitalize personal interests and find intriguing people who will influence their lives.  Before founding The Grace List, Elliot worked as a social entrepreneur and business development consultant.  Elliott graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Managing Emotions Filming Your Reality TV Show Pilot - Hattie Elliot

In Chapter 16 of 16 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, The Grace List founder and entrepreneur Hattie Elliot answers "How Has Filming Your Own Reality TV Show Pilot Been Different Than You Thought It Would Be?"  Hattie details how she gradually learned to let go and be herself when the cameras rolled.  She credits a supportive and trusting team - agents, stylists, and the production team - for helping get her in the right frame of mind for shooting.  Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, which is redefining the dating world by creating opportunities for singles to revitalize personal interests and find intriguing people who will influence their lives.  Before founding The Grace List, Elliot worked as a social entrepreneur and business development consultant.  Elliott graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

How to Develop Trust When Building Relationships - Ben Hallen

In Chapter 14 of 21 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, business school professor Ben Hallen answers "How Do You Establish Trust When Building Relationships?" Hallen notes trust develops in different ways. First, trust develops over escalating and repeating interactions. Second, trust can develop via signals where you have a reason to believer another person is credible. Third, trust can be transferred via a third party. Fourth, Hallen shares how sincerity and transparency can create trust. Hallen is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Management and Organization at University of Maryland. Hallen earned his PhD from Stanford University and its Stanford Technology Venture Program (STVP). He has been a startup CTO and graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Computer Science.

What Makes a Good Business Partner - Slava Rubin

In Chapter 6 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, IndieGoGo co-founder and entrepreneur Slava Rubin answers "What Makes a Good Business Partner?" Rubin notes balance is fundamental, as is positive conflict. The conflict helps create balanced perspectives. Early on, shared vision, effective communication, and execution are key. As the team grows and begins hiring, or "company building", it becomes increasingly important trust exists between partners and their respective roles and responsibilities. Rubin is co-founder and CEO of IndieGoGo.com, a crowdfunding startup whose platform helps individuals and groups finance their passions. Before IndieGoGo, Rubin worked in management consulting for Diamond Consulting, now a PWC company. Rubin founded and manages non-profit Music Against Myeloma to raise funds and awareness to fight cancer. He earned a BBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  What makes a good business partner?

Slava Rubin:  I think that there has to be balance between the partners as to who is bringing what to the table.  You can’t really have, in my opinion, all of the same, and you don’t wanna ‘yes’ each other.  You need to have some positive conflicts so you can have discussions where you can balance perspectives.  I think a good partner in the early days will just rock out and nail execution on whatever they’re supposed to be doing. Our team is our most valuable part, and everybody just really focuses on their part.  

Trust is so important when you know that somebody else is handling a whole separate part of the business.  It’s really important that you can just turn your head, walk away, and then focus on your part, because if you’re concerned, distracted, or not really thinking it’s gonna come through, you won’t be as productive as you can be in your area. In the long run they’ll be able to just be your partner in scaling the business and in company-building, meaning just hiring folks.  But I think in the early days, it’s just a shared vision.  You have to be friendly and you have to be able to execute what you bring to the table.

Why Effective Management Begins With Character - Audrey Parker

In Chapter 12 of 21 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, entrepreneur Audrey Parker answers "What Has Your Business Experience Taught You About Going into Relationships with Someone You Love, Respect and Trust?" In co-founding and growing her company, CLEAResult, she finds cornerstone characteristics of the management team to be integrity and trust. Individually and collectively, knowing others would own up to making mistakes permeates across all levels of the business. This creates a company culture built upon love, trust, and respect. Parker is currently on a one-year sabbatical. Parker co-founded CLEAResult, an energy management consulting firm. In 2010, CLEAResult ranked #144 in the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies. In late 2010, CLEAResult was sold to General Catalyst Partners. Parker graduated from Wake Forest University.

Courtney Spence on How Being True to Oneself Brings Out Personal Best

In Chapter 1 of 16 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit founder and executive Courtney Spence answers "When Are You at Your Best?" She notes how she performs best around those she loves and those who she can be herself around. This results in more open and trusted settings that allow Spence to thrive. Spence is founder and executive director of Students of the World, a non-profit that partners with passionate college students to create new media to highlight global issues and the organizations working to address them. Spence graduated with a BA in History from Duke University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  When are you at your best?

Courtney Spence: Probably at my best when I am working with people I really love, that I can be really honest with.  I’m a pretty emotional person and I take everything personally which is both good and both bad, but that means that particularly in a work environment if I am not – I don’t feel like I’m with people that I can be honest with, and when I’m upset, be upset with, or be -- I’m angry or when I’m happy, I feel comfortable, I trust them enough to be who I am.  When I’ve been in environments where I did not have that, it was very hard for me to even be a shade of my best.  But I would say, you know, for me, personally, in the last, you know, year and a half, really, I have assembled a really great team of people that I’m working with and it’s just so liberating to be able to really be true to who you are both at home and in your workplace.

What Makes Relationships Last a Lifetime - Randall Metting

In Chapter 1 of 11 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, brand marketer and Austin on-air radio personality Randall Metting discusses his parents marriage. Married over 40 years, Metting's parents teach him the importance of open communication.  He applies this in both his personal and professional pursuits opening up life's possibliities.  Metting is a brand developer focused on the intersection of luxury goods, professional sports, and charitable cause sponsorship and promotions.  He is also an on-air radio personality for 93.3 KGSR Radio Austin.  He earned a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Florida. 

How to Manage Digital Marketing Campaign Expectations - Mike Germano

In Chapter 12 of 16 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, social media expert and Carrot Creative president Mike Germano shares what he is learning about executing on creative marketing campaigns. Building team and client trust is important to set expectations with both. As trust in the relationship and process - rather than the outcome - builds, Germano sees his company shift from a launch early, launch often approach and to a more account management centric philosophy. Germano is co-founder and president of DUMBO, Brooklyn based new media agency Carrot Creative. Before Carrot Creative, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut. He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University.

Fabian Pfortmüller on Why to Prioritize Community Trust Over Business Network Size

In Chapter 16 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller shares what he has learned by building the young professional Sandbox Network.  To create more effective network opportunities, Pfortmüller focuses on establishing trust within the community.  Whereas networks are more about adding contacts, Pfortmüller sees communities as platform to use trust and diversity to create foundation upon which to build out the network.  He also notes the power of informality and what it can do to close the gap between trusting communities and actionable networks.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How can networking and community building improve?

Fabian Pfortmüller:  I believe that for me the two terms you said, networking and community building, there is a gap already. Because I feel that networking is about gathering contacts and community building, in the way that I understand it, is really about building a community. Now what does it mean to “build a community” I believe in an ideal form community building is about creating a family feeling and creating kind of trust between a somewhat random selection of people and I believe there’s a lot of improvement in a lot of communities to be done there because in the end it’s not about how many contacts you have and how far the network is, it is really how trusted it is and I always say the currency of networks and of communities is trust.

In an economy you pay yourself with money, in communities you pay yourself with trust and what do you do to help each other usually are introductions and I know you are a master of this and kind of helping each other out with introductions, that’s kind of the bill form or that’s one of the form of that currency of trust where you say ‘I spend some of that trust in connecting you two’ so I believe more focus on trust is very important. I believe that informality is a very important aspect. I believe that a lot of networks and communities have, have too formal procedures when in the end it’s about relationship building. Where build best relationships?

When you have a tie on and a big sticker on that says ‘Hey, I’m Fred? Or are… are you better to build relationships sitting on your couch with a beer in your hand? Obviously the later - the second one and knowing that why not implement it in community building? Another thing that I would say for communities to consider is diversity. I think there is a lot of value in having expert communities and you have fifty cup makers who come together and they exchange best practice.

Good, but I think the really good stuff happens in diverse groups and I think it’s proven that diverse groups tend to create better results and very often communities are not just about meeting like minded people but it’s really getting inspired and kind of personally developing and moving on, so less of a classical professional development but more of a personal development and for that I think diverse communities are a must.

Fabian Pfortmüller on How to Build Trusting Relationships

In Chapter 15 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller notes why being genuine and realistic are two cornerstones of buliding trusting relationships.  He tries to live by "say what you mean and mean what you say" in daily interactions and continues to learn about his limitations on what he can do to fulfill promises.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How do you establish trust when building relationships?

Fabian Pfortmüller: For me it has a lot to do with being genuine, I believe building trust in a relationship has a lot to do with just being genuine of who you are and what you want to do and what drives you and most people can relate to other people if they realize they are honest. I try to live by ‘Say what you mean and mean what you say’ in daily interactions with people and being – not promising something I can’t fulfill, I used to have the tendency of always wanting to help someone even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to fulfill it, and that has been one of my big learnings is also that even though that is a good thing, right?

You want to help someone and you want to really be… be helpful and do things for that person that is only helpful if you can actually fulfill it. If you don’t it hurts that relationship more that it does otherwise, and so I try to learn now to be very realistic but at the same time also very – trying to be helpful whenever you can and I think on of the beautiful things of running something Sandbox is always trying to help other people with the community of people you have around you.

Why to Tell Stories People Can Identify as Their Own - Michael Margolis

In Chapter 9 of 13 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with Erik Michielsen, storyteller and entrepreneur Michael Margolis shares why successful stories are sincere and worth telling.  Ultimately, it is about telling a story others can believe in and identify as their own.  Margolis is the founder and president of Get Storied (http://www.getstoried.com), an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative.  As a consultant, educator and writer he uses storytelling to create more effective branding, innovation and culture change.  Margolis earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University. 

How to Mentor Young Internet Writers - Mark Graham

In Chapter 11 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, editor and writer Mark Graham shares what he has learned about mentoring young Internet writers in his own senior editor role. First, he sits down with writers and reviews past work, given a draft review philosophy is often difficult in the deadline driven environment. Open and honest communication is critical and grounded by building trust. That time invested helps Graham differentiate where a young writer may need counseling and where they need encouragement. He finds some writers are better developing ideas and stories, whereas others need support finishing ideas. Graham is currently a senior editor at MTV Networks. Previously he worked in editing and writing roles at New York Magazine and Gawker Media. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English.

Simon Sinek on Why Internet Friends Do Not Replace Human Relationships

In Chapter 20 of 20 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and leadership expert Simon Sinek shares why human, physical interaction creates deeper, more meaningful relationships than Internet communication. Sinek notes that sheer physicality limits the Internet and its communication tools - Facebook, Twitter, blogs - ability to develop lasting, trusted bonds. He finds the Internet great at three things: one, connecting people; two, finding and sharing information faster; and three, increasing transaction speed. The Internet does not however develop the human bonds and the associated trust, sharing, emotion and interaction that come with them.

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 has social media culture shifted your view on relationships?

Simon Sinek: There was a time not long ago, you know, where relationships meant something different than they mean now. There was a time where – for example – you know, that a desktop meant something horizontal, and today a desktop means something vertical, right? I mean, that’s how technology has changed the definition of language. Um, when you say desktop, people think computer. 

You know, they don’t think a desktop, with a blotter and folders and things, that we actually now have on computers as well. Technology has also changed the definitions of human relationships. A friend is not somebody who you check their status, you know, your network is not on LinkedIn, a conversation doesn’t happen on Twitter and a dialogue doesn’t happen on your blog, you know? 

There’s a human experience, you know this, is an conversation, you know, this – it has reactions and advancing ideas, and it’s not just people taking turns to speak, which is what happens online. The Internet is incredibly, fantastic and valuable for three things. One, for connecting people. Amazing, amazing, right? Connecting people … for access to information, brilliant, right? And sharing information – access and sharing information, and for speeding transactions, to increase the speed of transactions. 

And it’s the Internet that has allowed people to build small business, because you can increase the span of transactions, you can connect to more people, etcetera. Find people from your child hood, whatever, Wikipedia - all this stuff, wonderful, wonderful. But the Internet is not great at developing real deep human bonds, where deep, deep, mutual trust exists. And one of the reasons is simple, is human bonds are human, and they require this, human physical interaction. You have to be able to look someone in the eye before you’re willing to trust them, right? 

This is why the videoconference will never replace the business trip. Because you can’t get a good read on somebody over videoconference. And even the blogosphere, you know, who, who, talks about that the Internet solves all problems, every year they descend on Vegas for Blogworld. Why couldn’t they just have their convention online? Why couldn’t they just all turn on their webcams and have a convention? They can do that, you know? 

No, it’s because nothing beats human interaction. And the amount you learn and the connections you make and the relationships you build, physically, are not only more efficient but deeper. And the Internet has yet to find a way that can reproduce them. You know, if others can say that it can, I’m open to it, but human relationships are in fact human. Um, and so, you know let us use the Internet for all that it gives us, and all its value, but let us not believe that it can replace things that, that are hard to replace. 

How to Use Location Applications to Improve Brand Marketing - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 9 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich shares what she considers when designing online experiences to connect consumers to in-store purchases. Giegerich defines this as the art of checking in. She points out negotiating the conversation around high impact, low volume audience versus larger reach marketing alternatives such as television. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

How Marketer Learns to Sell Brands Content Innovation - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 2 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich learns to sell brands content ideas and innovation through her transition from HBO to advertising agency Initiative Worldwide. Coming from a content company, HBO, she learns to apply skills here to different content-based brands. She learns the importance of learning new markets, including consumer goods and automotive, to understand how brands operate and work. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

Why Define Success by the Relationships You Create - Alan McNab

In Chapter 17 of 17 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, customer advocacy marketing executive Alan McNab defines and measures success based on the relationships he has created. McNab reflects on the experiences and overall history that constitute his story. Through ups and downs over more than a decade McNab learns to value relationships as commitments and experience strengthen the bonds over time. McNab holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Santa Clara University and an MBA from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. He has worked in various technology marketing roles at Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Motorola, and is now Vice President, Customer Advocacy at NCR based in Dublin.

What Sailing Teaches About What Company to Keep in Life and Career - Alan McNab

In Chapter 16 of 17 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, customer advocacy marketing executive Alan McNab shares how his passion for sailing allows him to reflect on life and careers. McNab learns the importance of working and competing with friends he can trust. Over time in both competitive sailing and in career, McNab surrounds himself with friends who collectively build a history of accomplishments and experiences. McNab holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Santa Clara University and an MBA from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. He has worked in various technology marketing roles at Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Motorola, and is now Vice President, Customer Advocacy at NCR based in Dublin.