Phil McKenzie on Managing an Overseas Long-Distance Relationship

In Chapter 3 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Phil McKenzie answers "What Has It Been Like Managing an Overseas Long-Distance Relationship?"  McKenzie finds it challenging not being physically present in a long-distance relationship and finds workaround ways to stay connected. He uses WhatsApp and Skype tools to bridge that presence gap and finds ways to communicate consistently to keep the bonds strong in between visits.

Philip L. McKenzie is the Founder of Influencer Conference, a global content platform that brings together tastemakers in the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology to discuss influencer culture. Previously, he led an influencer marketing agency and was an equities trader at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He earned an MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Howard University.

Phil McKenzie on Why Accountability is a Two-Step Process

In Chapter 8 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Phil McKenzie answers "What Approaches Do You Use to Hold Others Accountable For Their Actions?" McKenzie shares how he has learned from experience that accountability is a two-step process. First, it is his responsibility to clearly define project objectives and communicate this to his team. The second step is to provide space and structure to measure performance against those goals within a given timeframe. This helps keep his team on track as they work on a project and helps McKenzie provide coaching and support to make changes if things do not go as planned.

Philip L. McKenzie is the Founder of Influencer Conference, a global content platform that brings together tastemakers in the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology to discuss influencer culture. Previously, he led an influencer marketing agency and was an equities trader at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He earned an MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Howard University.

Phil McKenzie: Why High Confidence is Key to Entrepreneurial Success

In Chapter 13 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Phil McKenzie answers "What Role Does Confidence Play in the Work That You Do?" McKenzie notes confidence is everything. When selling his ideas to potential clients and partners, McKenzie notes being highly confident in what you are doing and why you are doing it is essential to influence others to understand you and commit to you. That confidence can take you over the top and go from having others appreciate what you do to having others want to be part of what you do.

Philip L. McKenzie is the Founder of Influencer Conference, a global content platform that brings together tastemakers in the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology to discuss influencer culture. Previously, he led an influencer marketing agency and was an equities trader at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He earned an MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Howard University.

Phil McKenzie on How to Handle a Confrontational Conversation

In Chapter 15 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Phil McKenzie answers "What Has Experience Taught You About How to Better Manage Confrontation?" McKenzie shares what he has learned about turning a confrontational conversation into a positive experience. He finds making a point clearly and also removing any connotation of a personal attack allows the confrontation to turn into a constructively critical dialogue.

Philip L. McKenzie is the Founder of Influencer Conference, a global content platform that brings together tastemakers in the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology to discuss influencer culture. Previously, he led an influencer marketing agency and was an equities trader at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He earned an MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Howard University.

Phil McKenzie on How to Give Better Advice When Asked for Help

In Chapter 18 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Phil McKenzie answers "How Have You Learned to Give Better Advice When People Ask You For Help?" McKenzie prefaces his willingness to give advice with the fact that knowledge he shares is based on his own circumstances or experience. This brings context to the conversation and prevents him from coming across as judgmental or biased.

Philip L. McKenzie is the Founder of Influencer Conference, a global content platform that brings together tastemakers in the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology to discuss influencer culture. Previously, he led an influencer marketing agency and was an equities trader at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He earned an MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Howard University.

Jullien Gordon on Learning to Leave Work at Work

In Chapter 4 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach and public speaker Jullien Gordon answers "What Have You Learned About Managing Expectations at Home While Building a Business?" Gordon shares how he decided to stop working from home and get an office. He shares how he uses the office space to create a boundary between work and home so he can be more present at night with his wife and focus on her and not work.

Jullien Gordon is a business coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase performance, motivation, engagement and retention. Gordon is also a public speaker on career planning for colleges, conferences, and corporations. He earned a BA from UCLA and MBA and M. Ed degrees from Stanford University. 

Jullien Gordon on How to Give Better Advice When Asked for Help

In Chapter 14 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach and public speaker Jullien Gordon answers "How Have You Learned to Give Better Advice When People Ask You For Help?" When asked for advice, Gordon finds it helpful to start by asking questions and not giving answers. This helps him shift his model for personal development from a "let me teach it to you" approach to providing others space to come up with their own answers.

Jullien Gordon is a business coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase performance, motivation, engagement and retention. Gordon is also a public speaker on career planning for colleges, conferences, and corporations. He earned a BA from UCLA and MBA and M. Ed degrees from Stanford University. 

Jullien Gordon on Building Advanced Public Speaking Skills

In Chapter 15 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach and public speaker Jullien Gordon answers "How Are You Improving Your Public Speaking Skills as You Gain Experience?" After taking storytelling classes and comedy classes to improve public speaking skills, Gordon improves more by researching his audience before speaking to them. By understanding audience experience, values, needs and expectations, Gordon can tailor a presentation, speech or talk that best resonates with listeners.

Jullien Gordon is a business coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase performance, motivation, engagement and retention. Gordon is also a public speaker on career planning for colleges, conferences, and corporations. He earned a BA from UCLA and MBA and M. Ed degrees from Stanford University. 

Jullien Gordon on How to Work With Different or Difficult Personalities

In Chapter 16 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach and public speaker Jullien Gordon answers "How Are You Learning to Work More Effectively With Different Personality Types?" Gordon learns from Eben Pagan on shifting priorities from self-interest to understanding what others want. This behavioral shift helps Gordon embrace differences, reduce friction, and be more helpful as a colleague, collaborator or coach.

Jullien Gordon is a business coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase performance, motivation, engagement and retention. Gordon is also a public speaker on career planning for colleges, conferences, and corporations. He earned a BA from UCLA and MBA and M. Ed degrees from Stanford University. 

Hammans Stallings on Finding Ways to Improve as a Teacher

In Chapter 3 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, strategist and management consultant Hammans Stallings answers "How Are You Becoming a Better Teacher?" Stallings finds ways to improve his teaching skills by studying cognitive science and finding ways to communicate an idea that is complex and potentially new to an audience or a learner. He builds on this by finding ways to continuously practice and improve upon his storytelling and listening.

Hammans Stallings is a Principal Strategist at frog design. Previously Stallings worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Hammans Stallings on How to Use Pattern Recognition Teaching a Class

In Chapter 4 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, strategist and management consultant Hammans Stallings answers "How Have You Learned to Distill Complex Concepts into Teachable Moments?" Stallings finds much of this has to do with recognizing learning patterns and waiting for the right conditions for a teachable moment to occur. To do this, Stallings looks for ways to create structures and parameters for students to get into a complex problem or topic, show interest, and be more receptive to that teachable moment when it occurs.

Hammans Stallings is a Principal Strategist at frog design. Previously Stallings worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Hammans Stallings on Finding Better Ways to Help Others Learn

In Chapter 5 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, strategist and management consultant Hammans Stallings answers "How Are You Finding Better Ways to Help Others Learn?" Teaching a class for the first time makes Stallings realize the hard work that goes into and the opporunity that comes out of designing an original class syllabus. He learns that there are ways to "chunk" the course material to make a learning connection across different types of students.

Hammans Stallings is a Principal Strategist at frog design. Previously Stallings worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Hammans Stallings: Presentation Preparation Advice for Storytellers

In Chapter 9 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, strategist and management consultant Hammans Stallings answers "How Are You Learning to Give More Effective Presentations?" Stallings shares how making a presentation more effective starts with preparing your story so that the basic elements you are trying to share are clearly communicated. From here, Stallings finds a sincere excitement about the material elevate the storytelling process.  Doing these two things well increases the probability the audience will embrace the material, find themselves in the story, and share the message.

Hammans Stallings is a Principal Strategist at frog design. Previously Stallings worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Hammans Stallings on How to Handle Confrontation

In Chapter 11 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, strategist and management consultant Hammans Stallings answers "What Has Experience Taught You About How to Better Manage Confrontation?" Stallings shares how handling confrontation is first about understanding the process is grey, not black and white. Second, it is about embracing the friction that comes with confrontation and using that to find a win-win outcome that makes the conflict worth addressing.

Hammans Stallings is a Principal Strategist at frog design. Previously Stallings worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Matt Curtis on How to Make Plans to Move in With a Girlfriend

In Chapter 3 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Matt Curtis answers "How Did You Manage the Transition of Moving in With Your Partner?" Curtis shares how he and his partner Christie worked through conversations about when, where and how to move in together. He shares why they decided to get their own new place rather than have one person move into the other person's place. He shares how they figured out where to live and adjustments they made after making the move to help the relationship grow.

Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was deputy to Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He has represented the City of Austin at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities. In 2011, Curtis joined the Harvard Kennedy School Urban Policy Advisory Board to work on national best practices facing American cities. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas. 

Bijoy Goswami on How to Measure the Quality of Personal Relationships

In Chapter 2 of 17 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, community leader Bijoy Goswami answers "How Do You Measure the Quality of Relationships in Your Life?" Goswami shares how he measures relationship quality by his ability to stay in a conversation over time and through change. He finds relationship growth is about uncovering one another's mysteries through trust and exploration. The result is a mutual deepening of understanding one another as well as oneself.

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas. He develops learning models to help individuals, organizations and communities live more meaningfully. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University. 

Matt Curtis on How to Use Positivity to Give More Helpful Feedback

In Chapter 16 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Matt Curtis answers "What Type of Feedback Do You Respond to Best?" Curtis finds he responds best to feedback that acknowledges his work, is frequently given and is done in a positive tone. Whether it is about something he could do better or something he has done well, Curtis finds these three feedback elements motivate him best at work.

Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was deputy to Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He has represented the City of Austin at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities. In 2011, Curtis joined the Harvard Kennedy School Urban Policy Advisory Board to work on national best practices facing American cities. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas. 

Matt Curtis on How to Find Common Ground in a Negotiation

In Chapter 17 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Matt Curtis answers "What Role Do Negotiation Skills Play in Your Work?" Curtis shares how he negotiates often in his work and how being being a patient, friendly active listener helps him find common ground and win-win outcomes in negotiations. He finds this is especially true negotiating common ground working with government, given concessions are nearly always part of a negotiation.

Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was deputy to Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He has represented the City of Austin at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities. In 2011, Curtis joined the Harvard Kennedy School Urban Policy Advisory Board to work on national best practices facing American cities. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.