Louise Langheier on Two Ways to Give Better Career Advice

In Chapter 7 of 21 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Louise Langheier answers "How Have You Learned to Give Better Advice When People Ask You For Help?" Langheier shares two ways she has learned to give better advice. The first is honing in on the specific question the person seeking advice is really trying to answer. The second is appreciating the learning experience that comes with being asked to give advice.

Louise Davis Langheier is founder and CEO of Peer Health Exchange, a non-profit that trains college students to teach health education in public high schools. Louise was selected as a member of the 2011 class of Aspen Entrepreneurial Education Fellows, and was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2012. She graduated from Yale University. 

Louise Langheier on Teaching Young Leaders Outside the Classroom

In Chapter 11 of 21 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Louise Langheier answers "How Are You Becoming a Better Teacher?" Langheier shares how asking questions and practicing inquiry has helped her better understand her employees' leadership development needs. She notes developing leaders in a workplace is different than teaching students and, for Langheier, success comes from understanding each individual employee's situation.

Louise Davis Langheier is founder and CEO of Peer Health Exchange, a non-profit that trains college students to teach health education in public high schools. Louise was selected as a member of the 2011 class of Aspen Entrepreneurial Education Fellows, and was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2012. She graduated from Yale University. 

Simon Sinek on How to Simplify Concepts So You Can Teach Them

In Chapter 3 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "How Have You Learned to Better Distill Complex Concepts Into Teachable Moments?" As someone that did not do well in school, Sinek shares how he has learned to make something repeatable. This, in turn, has helped him to make it understandable and to more clearly explain something when teaching others. 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: How have you learned to better distill complex concepts into teachable moments?

Simon Sinek: Oh, that’s an easy answer. I’m an idiot. I’m not smart. I didn’t do well in school. I didn’t do well in college. (chuckles) And so, my push to simplify concepts is so that I can understand them. There’s a lot of things I don’t understand, and so I ask a lot of questions, repeating back what I think I’m hearing, because I don’t understand. And so, the desire to simplify concepts is for my own understanding, and if I can understand it, then I can share it with somebody, because now I have an understanding of it.

And the good news is if you make something simple, then it’s repeatable. Whenever you make something repeatable, then it’s understandable. And the best part about that is, at that point, others can share your thinking without you. So many things that were “taught”, whether from a teacher, or somebody in the industry, or sitting down with your financial adviser or whoever, you can understand that, hopefully, maybe, you think you can for the moment that you’re with them, but then try and go to explain what you just learned in the meeting, and you’re like, “I don’t know. That’s what he said. I don’t know.” Right? And so, my desire is to be able to repeat something, which is why I need to dumb them down. (chuckles) It’s no great secret. (chuckles)

Simon Sinek on How to Collaborate on Projects More Successfully

In Chapter 9 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "What Have You Found to Be the Key to Creating Successful Project Collaborations?" Sinek notes collaborative success comes from first being clear on goals and how the individual and team will contribute to those goals. Clarity here creates motivation built upon shared values and beliefs teams can use to successfully work together. Sinek notes how self-centered behavior breaks down trust and the ability to form long-term collaborations. Using ad agencies as an example, Sinek shares how breakdowns in transparency and respect impair collaborative potential. 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.

Idan Cohen on Searching for a Role Model Mentor

In Chapter 13 of 13 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, technology entrepreneur Idan Cohen answers "At This Moment in Your Life, Where Are You Seeking Advice and Coaching?" Cohen shares how he feels the need to find a coach or mentor to provide support that complements what he receives from his wife, friends and peers. He recognizes he has a need and desire to do this and then shares his approach to thinking about what type of role model mentor would be best for him.

Idan Cohen is a technology entrepreneur and product management leader at Samsung Electronics. He co-founded Boxee, which was acquired by Samsung in early 2013. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: At this moment in your life, where are you seeking advice and coaching?

Idan Cohen: That's a good question because I could use someone a little older, a little wiser. I mean, obviously I have a support group and just friends and peers and Christina, but I do feel like I would benefit from having someone that I see as some kind of a role model that I can talk to and formulate a little bit more what I want my path to be. I've been thinking about it. I'm not sure how to do it. I'm not sure who is the right person. I've never approached anyone. I assume that anyone I would approach would be happy to help. I think that it's more that I want to figure out, like, what domain that person is coming from. And also is somewhat aligned with where-- what domain I want to see myself in the next 5 or 10 years. If and when I embark on something, on a new adventure that-- where is that going to be? Same path that I've been taking now-- I've taken now, or something different? So I think that that's one of the main kind of thoughts when I think about it-- I mean, threads

Lauren Serota on Rethinking Career Goals After Three Years at a Job

In Chapter 5 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and educator Lauren Serota answers "How Are Your Aspirations Changing As Your Experience Grows?" Now in her third-year working at frog design, Serota shares how her career aspirations are becoming less about individual recognition and more about sharing knowledge to improve how others learn and live. She reflects to a time when her goals were more narcissistic and how her goals have progressively shifted from self to serving others.

Lauren Serota works as an associate creative director at frog design. She is also a teacher at the Austin Center for Design (AC4D). Serota earned a bachelor's degree in industrial design from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). 

Nina Godiwalla on Turning Your Passion into Your Mission

In Chapter 6 of 18 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and entrepreneur Nina Godiwalla answers "How Do You Define and Measure Success in What You Do?" Godiwalla shares how work success is less about results and more about staying immersed in mission-based work that allows her to use her passions to achieve a greater purpose. Over time she finds herself achieving dream goals as she builds her diversity and leader training business. Nina Godiwalla is an expert on diversity, leadership and women in the business world. She is CEO of Mindworks, which provides leadership, stress management, and diversity training to companies all over the world. She is also a bestselling author and public speaker. Godiwalla earned an MBA from Wharton, a MA from Dartmouth and a BBA from the University of Texas.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How do you define and measure success in what you do?

Nina Godiwalla: For me, I think less about success because my life has had this major shift from working to purpose. I’m very clear now that I have a purpose and I’d say I can actually articulate it a little bit better that way because I was in a meeting about 2 weeks ago, and I was talking about what I do, and as I get very worked up, I was very passionate about it, and the guy that I was speaking to said, “You sound like you’re really not working, you’re on a mission,” and that was interesting because I thought, “Yeah, I know, because I don’t feel like I work anymore,” and, you know what? Because I don’t feel that way, I am not measuring success. I’m not sitting around thinking, “Did I do these three checkmarks?” It’s almost like I’m growing—I can see that things are changing significantly around me. Every year of my life is wow, I said a year or 2 years ago that was a dream to me. That is something I would have loved to do but never thought. I hadn’t even thought about getting that far, and then I find myself 2 years later doing that, and so I think that is success to me, is being able to find that purpose, and then just going after it full force, and being able to adapt and be flexible as things are constantly changing around me.

Erik Michielsen: When someone asks you, “What is your mission?”, how do you respond?

Nina Godiwalla: I think one of the major messages I have is really focused on step up, speak up, when you’re in a place of power, really being able to take your power and help other people that might not be in power, and those have played to both my focuses, leadership and diversity, and that applies from a diversity standpoint, so such a small example is if you’re in a room and you hear an inappropriate joke about a certain minority group, if you’re not part of that minority group and it makes you feel a little bit uncomfortable, a lot of times we’d just gonna look the other way. The most important thing for you to do at that moment is be able to say something and be able to stand up for that group because that group has been criticized and it’s an opportunity for you as not being a part of that.

From a leadership standpoint what I’m focused on is being in a place of power, whether you—wherever you are. You don’t even have to be high in the hierarchy or whatever it is, but a great example was we were just talking in a meeting, we were at the State Department, we were having this talk about how people repeat, someone gives their credit to the wrong person, so a very senior person says, basically, he repeated what someone else said, and everyone kind of starts giving credit to the senior person who said it, 15 minutes before, two other people had already mentioned it, and we’re giving examples of what’s a way to actually remind people that that’s not the right person, that’s not the person that really said it, and it’s something along the lines of, “Oh, well, Joe, that’s a great point—that’s a great way that you’ve summarized Sandy’s comments earlier, that’s—that was really impressive the way you did it concisely,” or something like that, and, basically, giving back credit to the person that did it. And if you are the most senior person in that room, it’s even more important for you to do that because you’re acknowledging to the rest of the staff, I’m aware of where that came from, and even if you’re not the most senior person, you’re in that room, and so you have an opportunity to bring attention to that, so it’s those sort of things, always making an impact, whether you formally have a hierarchical place or not.

Nina Godiwalla on How Job Success Can Isolate and Overwhelm

In Chapter 8 of 18 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and entrepreneur Nina Godiwalla answers "How Have Awards and Accolades Validated Your Work and Your Mission?" Godiwalla finds receiving awards, such as being inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame, validate her work and her mission. As a public speaker traveling extensively, she finds it progressively difficult to get to know people well during short trips. Travel-related time constraints limit her ability to connect with the amazing people she meets which leads her to feel frustrated and isolated. Nina Godiwalla is an expert on diversity, leadership and women in the business world. She is CEO of Mindworks, which provides leadership, stress management, and diversity training to companies all over the world. She is also a bestselling author and public speaker. Godiwalla earned an MBA from Wharton, a MA from Dartmouth and a BBA from the University of Texas.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How have awards and accolades validated your work and your mission?

Nina Godiwalla: At this point, I feel like it just helps me realize I’m going in the right direction but it doesn’t necessarily change anything major for me. Now that I’m so clear in what I’m doing, the awards and the accolades are like an extra bonus, like it’s nice, but before I felt like I was almost choosing what I would do based off of awards and accolades to some extent because that would be a great thing to do to get this award or get that, and now I feel I’m more along the lines of I’m so clear on my mission, I’m so clear on the purpose, and what I need to accomplish, fantastic, they’re just not nearly as important to me, I think, now that I’m so clear on my path.

Erik Michielsen: And you’re meeting some other people that are part of those communities, do you feel like you share similar views and there’s more work to do?

Nina Godiwalla: We come from completely different areas, one of that, I mean when I got inducted in the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame, Sandra Day O’Connor, as you know, she was one of the recipients, there are people that are colonels in the military. We all came out of so many different disciplines. Again, it’s like an amazing opportunity to meet fantastic, accomplished people, but definitely coming from very different backgrounds, and I feel like also, at this point, I’m so overwhelmed with—I feel like I’m constantly meeting such amazing people that I don’t even have time to get to know anybody anymore, and so the journey almost feels lonely at times because I’m overwhelmed with amazing people that I can’t follow up with. It’s absurd, it is absurd as it sounds, and I know that’s a choice, I mean don’t get me wrong, you create how busy you are, but there is always the next thing that I’m going to, the next thing I’m leaving for. And I mean I go to events all the time, I’m speaking. People give me their business cards, and I’d say I’ll follow up, and I have such good intentions, I really want to, I write it down, but by the time I get back, I’m already—there’s the next one where I meet 15 other people, and then I go back, the next one, so in a lot of ways, yes, I mean it’s fascinating, it’s amazing, but it’s also just completely overwhelming to be around, just meet all these amazing people all the time. (chuckles)

Erik Michielsen: Yeah, yeah, you wish for all that, sometimes, to come, and you get it, and you’re like I’m feeling more isolated and more lonely than ever.

Nina Godiwalla: Yeah, and I’ve heard that from several people, which I thought was interesting. I wouldn’t have—someone said it to me today, actually, she said— I was saying how, “Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to connect a little bit more with people geographically because several of us travel a lot?” And she said, “Yes. Sometimes it gets lonely,” and I hadn’t thought of it that way, and I was thinking, “That’s exactly what I mean.” I mean it feels lonely somewhere along the lines even though you’re constantly with such amazing people.

Nina Godiwalla on Smarter Ways to Give Advice When Asked for Help

In Chapter 16 of 18 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and entrepreneur Nina Godiwalla answers "How Have You Learned to Give Better Advice When People Ask You for Help?" Godiwalla shares how she is getting better about handling advice requests. She learns she can be more effective making introductions by playing a translator role to facilitate connections. This complements sitting down for an advice conversation and getting a longer view perspective of questions being asked. Nina Godiwalla is an expert on diversity, leadership and women in the business world. She is CEO of Mindworks, which provides leadership, stress management, and diversity training to companies all over the world. She is also a bestselling author and public speaker. Godiwalla earned an MBA from Wharton, a MA from Dartmouth and a BBA from the University of Texas.

Fabian Pfortmüller on the Restorative Value of a Long Vacation

In Chapter 2 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur and community builder Fabian Pfortmüller answers "How Are Your Personal Experiences Shaping Your Professional Aspirations?" Pfortmüller shares how taking a sabbatical or extended vacation for two months gave him the necessary rest to come back to the Holstee office fresh, reinvigorated and ready to make a change. He notes the company policy of taking off as much time from work as necessary to happy and to perform at the highest levels. Fabian Pfortmüller is co-founder of Holstee, a socially conscious online marketplace, and Sandbox Network, a global community for young entrepreneurial people. Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University.

Fabian Pfortmüller on Validating Your Company Mission and Values

In Chapter 8 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur and community builder Fabian Pfortmüller answers "What Experiences in the Past Year Have Most Influenced the Direction of Your Company?" Pfortmüller shares how validation moments have helped him and his co-founders find clarity and confidence in their mission and purpose. At Holstee, outside feedback on "mindful living" shapes company direction while at Sandbox Network insight on trust and family values validate the cultural development occurring as the organization grows. Fabian Pfortmüller is co-founder of Holstee, a socially conscious online marketplace, and Sandbox Network, a global community for young entrepreneurial people. Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University.

Yoav Gonen on Two Ways to Test and Validate Your Career Choices

In Chapter 5 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City reporter Yoav Gonen answers "At This Moment in Your Life, Where Are You Seeking Advice and Coaching?" Gonen gains career planning insights from co-workers leaving their newspaper reporting jobs to change careers. He also reaches out to writers he admires for career advice. In both instances, he finds validation in his work and learns to better appreciate what he does for a living. Shortly after this interview, Gonen was promoted from education reporter to New York City Hall Bureau Chief for the New York Post daily newspaper. Gonen earned a B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Journalism from New York University.

Yoav Gonen on How Personal Priorities Change With Age

In Chapter 19 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City reporter Yoav Gonen answers "How Are Your Personal Priorities Changing as You Get Older?" As he gets older, Gonen finds he puts a greater priority spending doing the things he loves with those he loves the most, namely family and friends. With age, Gonen finds he has a better grasp of what he wants out of life and what relationships, including being an uncle, bring him joy. Yoav Gonen is a reporter and City Hall Bureau Chief for the New York Post daily newspaper. Previously he spent nearly six years covering the education beat for the New York Post. Gonen earned a B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Journalism from New York University.

Michael Margolis on Rethinking Your Career Goals After an Illness

In Chapter 7 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "What Experiences in the Past Year Have Most Influenced the Direction of Your Company?" Margolis shares how recovering from a long-term illness reshaped the aspirations he has for his company Get Storied. Going through the illness and recovery pushes Margolis to evolve the business model from a lifestyle business and his role as a self-employed author/speaker/thought leader running a virtual company into a full-time employee-led business and his new role as CEO. Michael Margolis is founder and president of Get Storied, an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative. He earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University.

Michael Margolis on Building Culture at a Fast Growing Small Business

In Chapter 11 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "How Are Your Team Dynamics Changing as Your Company Completes More Creative Projects?" With a company that tripled in size in less than three months, CEO Margolis manages employee growth by investing in an intentional, transparent company culture. This sets clear employee expectations around priorities and values and helps Margolis do his best as a CEO to lead his team, earn their trust and respect, and provide coaching and guidance to help his team better serve its clients. Michael Margolis is founder and president of Get Storied, an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative. He earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University.

Tricia Regan on Finding a Mental State to Do Your Best Work

In Chapter 4 of 15 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, filmmaker Tricia Regan answers "When Are You at Your Best?" Regan notes she is at her professional best when she is fully immersed in her project work. She translates this focus into effectiveness and finds the intensity and purpose she gives to her work exciting. Tricia Regan is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker known for writing, directing and producing documentary films, including the Emmy-winning "Autism: The Musical". She also has worked extensively in non-fiction television for A&E, ABC, FOX, Lifetime, MTV Networks and NBC. Regan earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University. 

Richard Moross on Why to Get Out of the Office and Travel the World

In Chapter 4 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "What Travel Adventures Have You Had This Past Year and What Did You Learn From Them?" Moross learns how taking holidays - in this case traveling to Israel, Namibia, and Japan - gives him space not only to appreciate culture but also to reflect, to refresh and to put his work in a more global context. He talks about traveling to Israel with business partner Hewlett Packard (HP) and going to Namibia to take a 1000-mile road trip. Richard Moross is founder and CEO of award-winning online print business Moo.com. He is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a board member at Ladbrokes PLC. Before Moo.com, Moross was a strategist at design firm Imagination. He graduated from the University of Sussex.

Ken Biberaj on Capabilities and Limitations of a City Council Member

In Chapter 9 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council Candidate Ken Biberaj answers "What Do You Understand the Capabilities and Limitations of a City Council Position to Be?" Biberaj voters may not always know what a city council member can and cannot do. He works to educate them on specific ways he can affect change working in city government and also how he can use soft power to influence higher level officials including members of Congress, senators and governors.

Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Democratic Candidate for City Council in New York City. He is also a public relations executive for the Russian Tea Room restaurant at One Fifty Fifty Seven Corporation, a family business focused on real estate development, investment sales and retail leasing. Previously Biberaj was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. Biberaj holds a JD from New York Law School, a Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a BA in Political Science from American University.