Preston Smith on the Awesome Feeling of Working at a Job You Love

In Chapter 6 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "What Do You Enjoy Most About What You Do?" As CEO of a network of schools serving low-income districts in California, Smith finds inspiration working with talented and committed co-workers doing mission-based work to build higher quality schools to give students a better education.

Preston Smith is co-founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, the highest performing low-income school system in California. After graduating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Smith joined Teach for America. After three years teaching 1st Grade, he founded a district school in San Jose and became its principal. Smith was selected as a member of the 2010 class of Aspen Institute New Schools Fellows. 

Preston Smith on Going From Employee to Entrepreneur

In Chapter 7 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "How Did You Make the Leap From Being an Employee to Become an Entrepreneur?" Smith talks about pushing through a transition out of teaching elementary school to becoming an entrepreneur and starting a school. Seeing an unaddressed need for higher quality education, Smith embraces youthful energy to work through family and financial challenges to start a small school called LUCHA.

Preston Smith is co-founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, the highest performing low-income school system in California. After graduating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Smith joined Teach for America. After three years teaching 1st Grade, he founded a district school in San Jose and became its principal. Smith was selected as a member of the 2010 class of Aspen Institute New Schools Fellows. 

Preston Smith on Marriage Encounter Influences on Married Life

In Chapter 12 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "What Has Marriage Taught You About Teamwork?" Growing up, Smith watches his parents attend marriage encounter relationship building groups and sees the positive impact it has on their marriage and the family. He learns that marriage is a daily commitment that needs daily attention. By making that daily commitment to marriage and his spouse, Smith finds he learns a lot about life and the importance of staying positive.

Preston Smith is co-founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, the highest performing low-income school system in California. After graduating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Smith joined Teach for America. After three years teaching 1st Grade, he founded a district school in San Jose and became its principal. Smith was selected as a member of the 2010 class of Aspen Institute New Schools Fellows. 

Preston Smith on Retaining Teachers in Low Income School Districts

In Chapter 21 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "What Has Your Experience Taught You About Developing and Retaining Your Best Teachers?" Smith finds teacher retention a huge challenge in his work. He notes teachers want to be surrounded by great peers, engaged in relationships with students and their families, and be rewarded for achieving student success. Smith notes keeping these elements consistent in a low income school setting, especially with elementary schools, is difficult but is one he feels can be achieved.

Preston Smith is co-founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, the highest performing low-income school system in California. After graduating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Smith joined Teach for America. After three years teaching 1st Grade, he founded a district school in San Jose and became its principal. Smith was selected as a member of the 2010 class of Aspen Institute New Schools Fellows. 

Louise Langheier on Why Tough Mentors Make the Best Mentors

In Chapter 9 of 21 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Louise Langheier answers "How Are You Learning to Be a Better Mentor to Young Social Entrepreneurs?" Langheier shares how her mentor-advisor style is about pushing and challenging young social entrepreneurs to succeed. From her own experience co-founding non-profit Peer Health Exchange, Langheier finds mentors who invest in mentees by asking tough questions the mentors who are most likely to be vested in mentee success. She finds encouragement helpful, but finds the "push" or "challenge" the most important part of a mentor-mentee relationship.

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 What Makes an Aspen Institute Fellowship Valuable

In Chapter 13 of 21 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Louise Langheier answers "How Did Your Aspen Institute Fellowship Contribute to Your Professional Development?" Langheier shares how her time as an Aspen Fellow has given her an immersive learning experience full of critical and reflective learning. The program integrates rigor and humanity into a collaborative experience Langheier finds both unique and rewarding.

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. 

Conrad Doucette on Starting a Family in a Dual Income Household

In Chapter 6 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, musician and digital strategist Conrad Doucette answers "What Have Been Your Challenges Starting a Family in a Dual-Income Household?" Doucette shares how he and his partner learn to be more open-minded thinking about life away from work after having a baby. He notes it is no small adjustment but one new parents need to make given their new responsibilities. Conrad Doucette is a Brooklyn musician and the drummer for the band Takka Takka. He has performed with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, The National, Alina Simone, and many other leading acts. When not performing music, Doucette is the communications and brand director at music licensing and publishing startup Jingle Punks. Doucette earned a BA in History from the University of Michigan. 

Conrad Doucette on How to Handle a High Pressure Job at a Startup

In Chapter 14 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, musician and digital strategist Conrad Doucette answers "What Does It Mean to Perform Under Pressure in the Work That You Do?" Doucette finds constantly working in high-pressure job environments teaches him how to turn the chaos into calm, in what he terms a "Zen plateau" or "beautiful, bright soundscape." He also notes that pressure can feel like no pressure and no pressure can feel like pressure.

Conrad Doucette is a Brooklyn musician and the drummer for the band Takka Takka. He has performed with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, The National, Alina Simone, and many other leading acts. When not performing music, Doucette is the communications and brand director at music licensing and publishing startup Jingle Punks. Doucette earned a BA in History from the University of Michigan. 

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 Training Your Mind to Perform Under Pressure

In Chapter 14 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "What Does It Mean to Perform Under Pressure in the Work That You Do?" Sinek notes how performing under pressure is the same for him as it is for anyone else - meeting deadlines, hitting financial goals, etc. Olympic athletes teach him how it is possible to interpret stimuli that pressure brings as excitement and not nervousness. This positive interpretation of pressure helps Sinek embrace the moment as a public speaker and be at his best on stage. 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.

Simon Sinek on Improving Writing Skills by Embracing the Unfamiliar

In Chapter 18 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "How Are You Challenging Yourself to Improve As a Writer?" Sinek shares how he embraces challenge and works to improve his writing by trying new things such as writing fiction. He notes going to unfamiliar places helps him build both competence and confidence as he develops his writing skills. 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.

Simon Sinek on Learning a New Way to Write a Book

In Chapter 19 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "As You Have Been Writing the Second Book, How Has it Felt Differently Than the First?" Sinek finds writing his first book "Start With Why" far easier than writing his second, "Leaders Eat Last." He notes how the first came naturally after years developing the concept in hiw work. It just required him writing down the ideas he had been using. The second book, however, required him to develop a new concept from the start and figure it out while he was researching and writing the book. 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.

Simon Sinek on Making Emotional Connections With Those You Love

In Chapter 22 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "What Skills Are You Working on Right Now to Get Better at Your Job?" After years building strong communication skills in his work, Sinek turns his attention to improving these same skills in his personal life. From being a better listener to improving emotional engagement, Sinek shares how he is trying to make stronger relationship connections and exercise empathy with those he loves. 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 Selling a Startup After Six Years in Business

In Chapter 10 of 13 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, technology entrepreneur Idan Cohen answers "What Was It Like to Sell the Company That You Co-founded?" On one hand, Cohen finds selling his company Boxee to Samsung a relief after six years grinding away in a startup life. Through the ups and downs he also finds going through the acquisition process a challenge, from managing uncertainty to managing expectations with employees.

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: What was it like to sell the company that you cofounded?

Idan Cohen: I think that the main thing was relief. It was a lot of responsibility that you felt like, “phew, it's now, you know, someone else's.” I don't need to get-- you know, wake up tomorrow or go to sleep tonight and think about this, that, you know, and all of those things that just keep grinding you daily when you run your own business. And I think that was the most-- that was the feeling, the most significant feeling that I had.

Erik Michielsen: Did you expect to feel that way?

Idan Cohen: No, I don't think so. Maybe I know that now, but, yeah, I wasn't expecting exactly that kind of feeling. You know, the whole processes can be gut wrenching, and there's ups and downs, and also, around acquisition, it takes time, and there is a lot of uncertainty. And it's also not-- just not easy to keep the team aligned as you are going through this because, you know, they don't know what's happening, but everyone feels what's happening, and it's hard to keep everyone going and you know, working at the same pace.

Lauren Serota on What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder

In Chapter 4 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and educator Lauren Serota answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?" Serota notes the challenge of taking on management responsibilities after getting promoted from her hands-on interaction design and design research role to an associate creative director job. Specifically, she finds challenging to not do the work and instead to delegate the work and empower those doing it. After teaching design for three years and getting public speaking experience, she finds it easier to think on her feet and adapt to different situations.

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).

Lauren Serota on Getting Organized at Work

In Chapter 14 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and educator Lauren Serota answers "What Do You Find are the Keys to Managing a Busy Schedule and Getting Things Done?" Serota shares how she uses an array of tools and approaches to organize her life and stay as productive as possible. She replaces voice memos with Evernote to record her thoughts and makes post-it do to lists and checklists to stay on top of tasks. She organizes email by separating read and unread and works through the unread emails first.

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).

Yoav Gonen on Life Lessons Waiting Tables in First Job After College

In Chapter 3 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City reporter Yoav Gonen answers "What Did You Learn in Your First Job After College That is Still Relevant Today?" In his first job after college, Gonen waits tables working at a Philadelphia restaurant called Alligators. Waiting tables pushes Gonen to trust himself learning new things such as carrying a tray full of drinks over your head, especially when you do not have a choice. 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.

Yoav Gonen on Ways to Keep Beat Reporting Stories Fresh Over Time

In Chapter 6 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City reporter Yoav Gonen answers "What New Challenges Are You Facing in Your Journalism and Reporting Career?" Working on the education beat as a newspaper journalist for nearly six years, Gonen looks for ways to keep his stories fresh after reporting on topics that repeat over time. He looks to different story formats to do deeper reporting and pushes himself to find new work routines to get out of the office and do reporting work on the street and at events. 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.