Bryan Law on Going Back to School for a Kellogg MBA

In Chapter 7 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "What Informed Your Decision to Return to School and Earn an MBA?" After working several years working in human capital and HR consulting, Law goes back to school to get an MBA at Kellogg. The Kellogg MBA experience helps him develop skills in business strategy and student government leadership that open an opportunity for him to work in management consulting.

Bryan Law is a Principal in the Global Business Strategy Group at Google and a board member at Angola University. Previously, he was a manager at Monitor, a management consulting firm. He has worked in consulting roles at Watson Wyatt and Mercer. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business and a BA from Georgetown University. 

Bryan Law on Learning Leadership as Student Body President

In Chapter 8 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "What Did Your Experience as Student Body President Teach You About Leadership?" As student body president of his Kellogg MBA class, Law learns to lead in two ways. As a student government leader, he first embraces a philosophy of engaging his team to understand their perspectives to shape the team direction. Second, his work as a class president teaches him that while consensus is optimal, sometimes a leader must make unpopular decisions.

Bryan Law is a Principal in the Global Business Strategy Group at Google and a board member at Angola University. Previously, he was a manager at Monitor, a management consulting firm. He has worked in consulting roles at Watson Wyatt and Mercer. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business and a BA from Georgetown University. 

3 Ways to Build Management Consulting Project Manager Skills

In Chapter 11 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "What Core Skills Did You Learn Working on Management Consulting Projects?" Growing into a project manager role working in management consulting, Law finds three areas on which to focus. First, he learns what to prioritize in order to run a client project efficiently. Second, Law makes sure to build a strong relationship with the client that goes beyond the project. Third, he builds a team dynamic around inclusion and trust to do his best to make the project work as rewarding for team member professional development as possible.

Bryan Law is a Principal in the Global Business Strategy Group at Google and a board member at Angola University. Previously, he was a manager at Monitor, management consulting firm. He has worked in consulting roles at Watson Wyatt and Mercer. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business and a BA from Georgetown University.

Bryan Law on the Rewards of Economic Development Consulting

In Chapter 14 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "What Did You Find Most Rewarding About Doing Economic Development Consulting Work?" As an economic development consultant, Law is able to find common best practices in industries such as agriculture where he can bring together stakeholders from the private sector, the donor development community, and government. He then translates these best practice knowledge from one part of the world to another part of the world to enhance agriculture in new places. The impact he creates with this work leads him to a job in global business strategy at Google.

Bryan Law is a Principal in the Global Business Strategy Group at Google and a board member at Angola University. Previously, he was a manager at Monitor, management consulting firm. He has worked in consulting roles at Watson Wyatt and Mercer. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business and a BA from Georgetown University. 

Bryan Law on Building Team Trust Working in Consulting

In Chapter 15 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "How Do You Establish Trust When Building Relationships?" Working abroad in Dubai, Law learns the importance of spending time getting to know your clients and your project team personally and professionally before conducting business. He finds it helps to sit down with new team member and share backgrounds and goals. The time spent creates a personal connection that adds to the professional relationship. Law finds spending time taking an interest in his project team members and clients ultimately helps him to better help them develop and achieve work goal success.

Bryan Law is a Principal in the Global Business Strategy Group at Google and a board member at Angola University. Previously, he was a manager at Monitor, management consulting firm. He has worked in consulting roles at Watson Wyatt and Mercer. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business and a BA from Georgetown University. 

Learning Thought Leadership in a Technology Career

In Chapter 13 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, product management executive Ramsey Pryor answers "What Does It Mean to Be a Leader in What You Do?" Pryor likes working in technology because it gives him a chance to work on the edge of what has been seen and what is to come. To be part of figuring out the future of an industry inspires Pryor to look for companies and careers, including product management at IBM, where he can make a difference as a thought leader.

Ramsey Pryor is a product management executive at IBM focused on cloud-based collaboration and security software products. Previously he was VP Product Marketing at Outblaze, acquired by IBM. Pryor earned an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University.  

How Relationship Connections Build Leader Capacity

In Chapter 14 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, product management executive Ramsey Pryor answers "What Leadership Skills are Becoming More Relevant as Your Career Progresses?" Pryor shares how the question of leadership he is trying to answer changes over time. Early in his career, leadership is more about individual performance at a higher level than peers or competitors. Over time, leadership becomes less about tactics and more about people and resources you can bring in to solve a problem.

Ramsey Pryor is a product management executive at IBM focused on cloud-based collaboration and security software products. Previously he was VP Product Marketing at Outblaze, acquired by IBM. Pryor earned an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University.  

How Teach for America Prepares Future Leaders

In Chapter 8 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, education technology entrepreneur Adam Geller answers "How Did Teaching in the Teach for America Program Inform the Next Steps in Your Career?" Teaching disadvantaged students in the classroom inspires Geller to make a career fixing K-12 education or as he terms it "Big E Education." This leads him to build on Teach for America teaching and get a masters degree in education as well as formal teacher certification. He joins Teach for America's national organization to work on strategy and organizational development and learn at more systematic ways to improve Big E Education.

Adam Geller is founder and CEO of Edthena, a video platform enabling online teacher coaching, peer review, and group learning. He is a recent Education Ventures fellow at the Kauffman Foundation and the founder of Teach For Us, a network connecting Teach for America corps members and alumni. He earned a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MA from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis.

Geoff Hamm on Why to Work With an Executive Coach

In Chapter 3 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, mobile business executive Geoff Hamm answers "How Has Working With an Executive Coach Helped You Develop Your Career?" Hamm regularly meets with his executive coach to get feedback on his career. The informed, unbiased perspective a professional coach provides gives Hamm perspective on how to handle challenges and problems he faces leading teams and motivating employees.

Geoff Hamm is a business development executive and VP Strategic Alliances at mobile marketing platform start-up Applovin in San Francisco, CA. Previous to Applovin, Hamm held senior sales management positions at Tapjoy, Scribd, Electronic Arts, Yahoo!, Orbitz, IAC and Excite where he built deep relationships with advertisers and brands. Hamm graduated from the University of Illinois.

Two Job Skills You Need to Be a Better Executive Leader

In Chapter 13 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, mobile business executive Geoff Hamm answers "What Skills Are You Working on Right Now to Become Better at Your Job?" As an executive team member, Hamm focuses on honing two core job skills, patience and communication, both written and verbal. He benefits from learning from a very transparent founder who exposes him to operational aspects fundamental to running a business.

Geoff Hamm is a business development executive and VP Strategic Alliances at mobile marketing platform start-up Applovin in San Francisco, CA. Previous to Applovin, Hamm held senior sales management positions at Tapjoy, Scribd, Electronic Arts, Yahoo!, Orbitz, IAC and Excite where he built deep relationships with advertisers and brands. Hamm graduated from the University of Illinois.

How to Develop and Retain Your Best Salespeople

In Chapter 14 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, mobile business executive Geoff Hamm answers "What Has Your Experience Taught You About Developing and Retaining Your Best Sales People?" Hamm sees developing and retaining top sales performers as a top sales leader responsibility. He does this by setting career path expectations and listening to employees so they feel heard. As a leader, he uses a style focused more on coaching than high-touch managing to give salespeople room to work while also setting executive team expectations why this is critical to sales success.

Geoff Hamm is a business development executive and VP Strategic Alliances at mobile marketing platform start-up Applovin in San Francisco, CA. Previous to Applovin, Hamm held senior sales management positions at Tapjoy, Scribd, Electronic Arts, Yahoo!, Orbitz, IAC and Excite where he built deep relationships with advertisers and brands. Hamm graduated from the University of Illinois.

Preston Smith on Starting a Grade School and Becoming Its Principal

In Chapter 5 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "What Made You Decide to Leave a High School Teaching Job and Become a School Principal?" After completing his second year teaching at Teach for America and going through CMAs - Corps Member Advisor - training and development, Smith runs into bureaucratic obstacles during his third year teaching. The challenge gets Smith more engaged in the local community and leads to him starting a new San Jose grade school that he leads as principal.

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 What It Means to Be a Leader

In Chapter 13 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "What Does It Mean to Be a Leader in What You Do?" As CEO, Smith finds leading means putting people in places where they an do their best work. Leading means staying above the politics and not being divisive in his thinking. Leading means framing things in a positive way and avoiding an us versus them mentality. Finally, leading means embracing the responsibility that as a leader he will often be the one needing to make the tough decisions that often will be unpopular.

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. 

Aspen Fellow Preston Smith on Developing Leadership Capacity

In Chapter 14 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "How Did Your Aspen Institute Fellowship Contribute to Your Professional Development?" Selected into the Pahara Fellowship leader development program at the Aspen Institute, Smith joins a cohort of entrepreneurial education leaders. There, he learns via peer self-refections that help him identify ways to improve how he leads his life and his organization.

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 When to Be a Hands-Off Team Leader

In Chapter 15 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "When Are You At Your Best?" As a CEO, Smith learns when not to be a hands-on leader and focus his energy on empowering employee teams in a hands-off way. He finds he can be at his best by putting people in a position to succeed and learning when to insert himself and provide support.

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 Measuring Success Managing Charter Schools

In Chapter 16 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "How Do You Define and Measure Success in What You Do?" As CEO running a network of K-5 charter schools, Smith defines and measures success using a number of qualitative and quantitative inputs, from student learning outcomes to teacher satisfaction surveys to parent participation analysis. These help Smith work toward a goal of waking up every day knowing he is doing everything he can to build great schools full of happy employees and achieving students.

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 Leading and Motivating Executive Teams

In Chapter 17 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "How Are You Learning to Better Manage and Motivate Teams?" Smith shares how he now is learning to lead an executive team after leading more junior staff as a grade school principal. Smith finds leading executive team members means making sure to honor their respective strengths and experience, asking the right questions on the right topics, and knowing when to be  hands-off as a CEO.

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 Being a More Creative and Open Leader

In Chapter 6 of 21 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Louise Langheier answers "How Are Your Personal Experiences Shaping Your Professional Aspirations?" Langheier shares how those around her have taught her to be more open-minded and creative. Over time, she also learns to embrace uncertainty and be more comfortable knowing discipline and focus still do not mean you can control your future.

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.