When to Leave a Job and Start Something New - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 14 of 18 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis answers "When Have You Had to Walk Away Something Dear to Your Heart?"  Curtis shares how he has left political jobs for new challenges and how the process and resulting experiences have allowed him to learn and grow.  Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was communications director for Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn.  In 2011, Curtis won "Austinite of the Year" in the Austin Under 40 Awards.  He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.

How Positivity Improves Productivity - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 15 of 18 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis answers "How Do You Get Yourself Into a Flow State of Productivity?"  Curtis shares how he gets into a zone by working and crossing items off his lists.  This causes him to feel more positive emotions which in turn help him enter a flow state of productivity.  Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was communications director for Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn.  In 2011, Curtis won "Austinite of the Year" in the Austin Under 40 Awards.  He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.

How to Use Government Experience in Private Sector Job - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 17 of 18 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis answers "How Are You Applying Your Government Experience Working in a Private Sector Job?"  Curtis shares how his experience working across local, state, and federal governments has given him the knowledge to help private communities better navigate the political landscape.  He notes how positive and solutions-oriented initiatives are more successful than simply pointing out problems.  Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was communications director for Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn.  In 2011, Curtis won "Austinite of the Year" in the Austin Under 40 Awards.  He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.

How to Let Go and Make Space for Something New in Your Life

In Chapter 4 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "How Are Your Community Responsibilities Changing?"  Goswami shares how he has been developing and why he is letting go of existing responsibilities to make space for something new.  He sees it as a process or cycle that allows him to distill his purpose.  Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  How are your community responsibilities changing?

Bijoy Goswami:  What I found is this three-stage process in terms of finding your way, you start with another way. You’re painting, let other people paint upon you. Second, you start to strip off that paint and a lot of what I've been doing the last while is stripping off some of this paint and that has meant actually not being as integral to things like Bootstrap Austin or things like that and say, how can I take a backseat, how can I let go of some of these things so that I can make a space for something new.

So, again, I find it to a cycle. It’s not like I’m, you know, going away from everything fully but it’s part of I'm saying, I'm doing that process so I can find out what the next way of engaging is. So, I think I might have brought up the Banksy analogy where I hack systems. I try to intervene inside of systems but I'm don’t necessarily try to hold on to them or be part of them for much—a long time. So, what I found is I'm still involved, I'm still engaged but in terms of projects where I am assisting those projects, I go in and I leave, you know, rather than try to be ongoingly in them.

So, that’s a lot of what’s been happening. I think it’s given me the opportunity to then say okay. What am I really trying to – How am I distilling all that into something that I'm really putting forward in the world.

How to Get into a Flow State of Productivity

In Chapter 6 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "When Do You Find Yourself Entering a Flow State of Productivity?"  He shares how flow only comes after an immersion process.  Once the immersion is under way, flow occurs and he is able to find a zone of productivity. 

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  When do you find yourself entering a flow state of productivity?

Bijoy Goswami:  I think it’s a matter of taking enough time to do a task long enough that you get into it. So, what I found is a flow state occurs, you know, in any given moment, you need about an hour or two of ongoing work in that task and then you find yourself in a flow state.

So, there’s something about – There’s a settling in process and settling down process and then once you’re in that zone, you’re in that flow state but you can’t – I very rarely find myself starting in the flow state and so, you know, I’ll ramp up a task and start doing something and then as I’m doing it more then I’ll find myself in the flow state.

So, I mean, like, you know, South By is a great example like, you know, again you’ll start and you're like, oh, yeah South By and you have these festivals and there’s panels and, you know, and then you just start going, you start getting into it and by the first day or second day you're down the road and you’re just gonna stop by, you know that you’re in the process of it. So, I think it’s a really interesting thing, it did take some setup and then once you’ve setup then you can start to groove in.

How Leadership and Management Work Together

In Chapter 8 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "What is the Difference Between Effective Management and Leadership?"  Goswami discusses the duality of leadership and management and also how they differ.  He talks about management, as an externalized skill, can be learned and leadership, more internalized, is more difficult to teach.  Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  What is the difference between effective management and leadership?

Bijoy Goswami:  Management I think is about how you get from A to B, you know. What are the set of things that need to be accomplished from getting someone or a team or an organization from A to B. So, it’s about breaking things down to tasks about, you know, understanding what’s something—what’s involved, who’s on the team, what are people doing, that kind of thing. 

Leadership is providing the inspiration. The why. Why should we do those tasks? Why does it matter that we’re going from here to A to B. So, to me these are very linked. The duality of management and leadership is that they’re linked, intermingled but they’re very different. 

So, a lot of the times people might be very good at one and might not be as good at the other but leadership again I think is, is certainly the place where I get excited because I think management is, it can be learned very easily because it’s an externalize skill, you know, you kinda go okay, here’s some principles, here’s some ways of doing it. You know, I think a lot of times leadership is taught like management which I think is a mistake like “Leadership, there’s this 25 rules of leadership”, I don’t think it works that way. 

I think leadership is much more personal, it’s much more, you know, it comes from within. So, that is the hard thing is that in a way I don’t think leadership can be taught. You think you can be given a way to find out what your leadership is about, who you are as a leader. So, then maybe you can teach that like I work in leadership Austin in Austin, that’s a lot of what happens there is they go what is leadership to you? Whereas with management, I think you can really sit there and teach that and say here’s what management is.

How to Make Your Ideas Easier to Evangelize

In Chapter 9 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "How Are You Becoming Better at Selling a Vision?"  He shares the importance of distilling a vision into something simple so it can be more easily evangelized and speaks from experience on how to make it happen.  Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  How are you becoming better at selling a vision?

Bijoy Goswami:  I think that part of it is that that vision has to be distilled, you know, so like if you ask someone, okay, what’s your vision and they kinda go off and they go, oh, it’s like 25 things. It’s like, no that’s not a vision, that’s too broad and it becomes very hard to evangelize a vision because people are, they go well, is it that, is it this, is it motherhood and apple pie and everything else, right?

So, I think part of it is, I feel like it’s like what Michael Angelo said about David. He said, you know, the rock was there; David was in there I had to keep cutting and get all the excess rock. So, ironically I think it’s a process of finding out that one thing like what are you about and yes, you're about 500 things and we can all be, but part of this thing about being locked in who we are is we’re positional, right? There’s a position that we get to take in the world. We can’t take all positions.

So, taking away the positions that are not you or that are not at your core is to me the real process. So, that’s what I've—I feel like I've been doing is articulating lots different positions, right. Oh, MRE, you know maybe later evangelist, Bootstrapping that’s all about different aspects but those aren’t actually they’re all pieces of the puzzle.

How Context Improves Message Communication

In Chapter 11 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "How Are You Learning to Adapt Your Message to Reach Different Audiences?"  Goswami firstly tries not to change the message and focus more on changing the message context to connect with different groups. 

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  How are you learning to adapt to your message to reach different audiences?

Bijoy Goswami:  Actually it’s funny. I think I've done that a lot where I’m actually doing the reverse right now, which is I'm trying to find the message that appeals to lots of audiences but have it be the same message.

If you were asking me tactically what I do with audiences, you know, it’s really to think about their context and think about where are they, what’s happening, what are they trying to achieve? If I'm speaking at conference I'm going, okay, what’s this conference? What’s the larger picture of what they’re trying to achieve? And how do I go to that flow? And I think that’s exactly what one ought do is really who’s coming before me? Who’s coming after me? Why are they asking me to be here, you know? And it’s not that the message doesn’t change but the context of the message changes.

So, I had a great example of that recently where people came back and said, wow, that was the best thing ever and I was still giving the core of my message but it was political context or an activist context versus an entrepreneurial context. I'm still taking entrepreneurial concepts and saying, here’s how you can maybe think about them here in this context.

So, I think that’s, that’s what you do there but I think it’s really interesting to think about how you actually put out something that again I think if you’re not in someone else’s context but you're trying to create a context, a container for something then it’s about one message that you can take out, and that’s I think a different problem.

How to Be Less Judgmental and More Accepting

In Chapter 13 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "How Do You Create Hope and Dispel Fear When Introducing New Concepts and Ideas?"  Goswami stresses the importance of meeting someone where they are and not judging them for being wrong for where they are.  It is not a right versus wrong discussion.  Rather it is about acceptance and how to introduce new concepts into the conversation.  Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  How do you create hope and dispel fear when introducing new concepts and ideas?

Bijoy Goswami:  You have to go back and meet someone where they are and if you meet someone where they are then they’re not wrong for being where they are, right?

So, one of my things is we’re all on this journey, we’re all on this journey of evolution and we’re some place and I was 12 at one point and I knew what I knew, now I'm 38 and be something. So, to me it’s if I can meet someone where they are, then there’s nothing wrong, they’re not wrong for being who they are. They’re not wrong for being where they are. They’re not wrong for holding the beliefs they do or whatever. Once that acceptance not just posing as it I actually do understand that then I can say okay. Well, what’s a concept or how can I then stimulate a new concept or how can I, you know, intervene in the system but if you meet someone where they are there’s no question of fear or its – Because the other piece of it is that even when you introduce something new you’re actually, you’re gonna co-create that with them, right?

Like this dialogue here, we’re creating a dialogue here. We’re both creating it together. Same thing there, so immediately they go, Oh, wow. It’s a give and take, it’s a 1 + 1, we’re going back and forth, alright? So, when I think about new concepts or any ideas I'm always listening for where are they gonna inform what I'm doing because I'm actually trying to advance it, it’s not a static thing. It’s an evolving thing. How are they gonna advance it from me, so how they can meet where I am, right?

Once it’s in a dialogue in that sense, a dialogue in which you’ve really met where they are in their path, I don’t think you have that sense of fear. You don’t have that sense of loathing or foreboding, it’s oh that’s great and we all know there’s something next. Whenever I’m in a moment, there’s a new moment. That’s just the way, that’s just the way things are.

A Better Way to Handle Rejection

In Chapter 16 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "How Do You Deal With Rejection?"  Goswami notes how rejection is a part of life.  He shares how he learns to respect perspectives of others and keep an open mind of what may be right and what may co-exist. 

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  How do you deal with rejection?

Bijoy Goswami:  Rejection is just part of life. Rejection is also making an aesthetic decision that whatever you're doing is not part of what they might be doing.

It’s great. I don’t think I'm gonna be able to talk to everyone in the world. I'm not gonna be able to interact with everyone and I don’t want to. So, to me like, you know, I think rejection is part of it.

Now, I think rejection could be done differently but in terms of when I'm rejected I don’t see it as, I don’t see it as anything but an aesthetic or a personal choice and someone’s prerogative is to reject things that they don’t like and one of those things could be me or an idea I’m promoting or whatever and so I see that as a very natural, natural course of things. I think where we make a mistake in terms of how we treat each other is that we, we reject – Because we need to say, we have to reinforce our idea of what’s right rather than say these two different ideas can both coexist. We have to then reject the person. We have to reject, you know, we have to do a Rush Limbaugh. We have to attack the person and bring them down and do all this stuff because we’re afraid of something in ourselves.

So, that to me when people do that, that’s I think called projection rather than rejection and that’s, you know, I see that too. I'm like, all right, you know, that’s fine. So, I think it starts from I'm not trying to get everyone on board, I'm not trying to get this – I’ve already accepted myself and so I don’t need other people to accept me. If we haven’t affirmed ourselves and other people reject us then we think I'm wrong and we take it personally. When we’ve affirmed ourselves and we know who we are and we know what we’re about then rejection is just part of the game.

When to Walk Away From Your Startup and Move On

In Chapter 17 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "When Have You Had to Walk Away From Something Dear to Your Heart?"  Goswami shares the story of his first startup venture and coming to the decision to move on and pursue something else.  He recounts how he separated from his business partner and worked on a software company for several years before making the decision to take a new direction. 

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  When have you had to walk away from something dear to your heart?

Bijoy Goswami:  You know, I would say my first venture, you know, that I worked on the start-up with this software that was meant to be a knowledge network that was wiring up knowledge networks, human knowledge networks things that evolved that had become Facebook and LinkedIn and things like that over the next few years and what happened there was I had – I started this project with a friend of mine who we’ve said we’re gonna go and do this venture together. 

We ended up doing the venture, getting all the people involved and then at some point we weren’t able to get the traction that we needed in the marketplace. It was early 2000, things like that and not only did the employees go but this buddy Bruce and I, Bruce said okay, I gotta move off on this thing and so I was like, what do you mean, we’re just going, we’re just getting going here, yeah we had. You know, I was like the knight in the Holy—in the Crusades, the just a flesh wound, you know and the Holy Grail. Comeback here where are you going and so I continued working on that for a few years actually as a one person software company and we had the software and I was working on the software and actually all the revenue that the company ever had as a software company I sold as a one person software, you know, company. 

But then it just kind of like, I just couldn’t keep it going, you know, and more than that I think other things started too, other projects started to emerge Bootstrap and Human Fabric and all these other things and so I had to say that’s gonna be put back on the shelf. And it wasn’t like, it wasn’t like – I don’t remember making that decision explicitly it just sort of evolved that way but it’s also like that just I don’t know what to do with that thing anymore. I'm not getting – I can’t do it by myself. I found that, you know, projects that I do myself don’t have enough momentum and I'm not getting enough help to continue it and I don’t, you know, so, all right I gotta let go of it, you know.

How to Get More Involved in Your Local Community - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 7 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "How Can One Make His or Her Community Service More Impactful?"  Biberaj makes several suggestions for people to participate in the process and be more engaged in the community.  He notes each individual has an obligation to step up and get involved and offers several examples of how to do it.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  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 he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He 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.

Finding Personal Best by Being Present in the Moment - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 8 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "When Are You At Your Best?"  Biberaj notes that inside his full schedule, from morning runs to afternoon business meetings to weekend campaign meetings, he tries to be present in the moment.  Additionally, he finds doing multiple things helps him set priorities and focus on the task or meeting at hand.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  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 he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He 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. 

How Family Role Models Teach Work Ethic - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 9 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?"  Biberaj tells the story of his family, starting with his grandfather and his work moving the family out of Albania to the Bronx in New York City.  He shares how this blossomed into his father getting a world class Columbia University education and pursuing a public service career, his uncle running The Russian Tea Room, and the entrepreneurial initiatives of his mother.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  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 he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He 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. 

How to Manage a Busy Schedule and Get Things Done - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 10 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "What Do You Find Are the Keys to Managing a Busy Schedule and Getting Things Done?"  Biberaj shares the approach he uses to map, prioritize, and manage obligations across his personal and professional endeavors.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  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 he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He 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. 

How to Use Goals to Define and Measure Success - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 11 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "How Do You Define and Measure Success in What You Do?"  Biberaj shares how setting goals helps him define and measure what it means to succeed.  He walks through his process and puts it in the context of his experience re-opening the Russian Tea Room restaurant in New York City.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  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 he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He 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. 

The Rewards of Working in a Family Business - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 12 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "What Have You Found Most Rewarding About Working in a Family Business?"  Biberaj notes how the shared experience working with family has helped him build trust across family generations and put a foundation in place for future generations.  He shares what he has learned from other family business owners and how it plays into the American immigrant experience.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  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 he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He 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. 

How Law School Education Propels Real Estate Career - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 13 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "How Have You Applied Your Law School Education in Your Real Estate Career?"  After arriving in New York City in 2005, Biberaj takes night school courses at New York Law School to learn the law associated with real estate.  The experience helps him learn real estate while working a full time job.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  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 he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He 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.