In Chapter 8 of 16 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, motivation teacher Jullien Gordon answers "How Do You Use Your Network to Get Help Making Career and Life Decisions?" First, Gordon makes it a point to establish a network and one way he creates this is by hosting monthly potluck dinners. Second, Gordon chooses to "network up" and build relationships with a select group of more experienced advisors. Lastly, Gordon makes sure to find quiet time to reflect on what he learns from his network and how he applies it to career decision making. Gordon is the founder of the Department of Motivated Vehicles, a personal and professional development company that helps clients identify purpose and map it to successful outcomes. Gordon has written five books and speaks regularly to college students across America. He earned masters degrees in education and business from Stanford University and an undergraduate degree from UCLA.
Transcript:
Erik Michielsen: How do you use your network to get help making career and life decisions?
Jullien Gordon: First and foremost I make sure that my network or what I actually call my community is there before I need them. So by hosting monthly potlucks at my home over the past four years in New York, I’ve met over 400 people through that space. And so these are 400 people who know who I am, know my vision, know what I’m about and are there to support me when I need them.
When I think about tough decisions, I actually use my network up, that’s what I like to call which is my personal board of directors. So these are my mentors, these are my advisors, these are seasoned professionals, these are experts in certain areas. So I reach out to them for advice on certain decisions. At the end of the day they don’t necessarily influence the decision, they give more information to consider, but the ultimate decision actually has to come from me and the best way I like to make decisions is by getting in a place of stillness and quietness after I’ve gotten the information that I need and then making the decision from there.