Andrew Epstein on Leading Teams by Nurturing Employee Growth

In Chapter 10 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, charter school CFO Andrew Epstein answers "What Leadership Skills Are Becoming More Relevant as Your Career Progresses?"  Epstein believes the role of a leader is to get team members excited about their roles and engaged in their work.  He finds honesty, availability and presence help him nuture and develop his teams. 

Andrew Epstein is CFO of the Ascend Learning Charter School Network.  Previously, Epstein was a finance executive at Democracy Prep Public Schools and an operations executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records.  He is a former Teach for America corps member and middle-school science teacher.  He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Andrew Epstein on Improving Organizational Job Skills

In Chapter 11 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, charter school CFO Andrew Epstein answers "What Skills Are You Working on Right Now to Become Better at Your Job?"  Epstein constantly tries to improve how he uses systems to stay better organized at work.  Organizational skills help him manage multiple projects and multiple team members and what needs to get done when. 

Andrew Epstein is CFO of the Ascend Learning Charter School Network.  Previously, Epstein was a finance executive at Democracy Prep Public Schools and an operations executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records.  He is a former Teach for America corps member and middle-school science teacher.  He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Andrew Epstein on How Structure Helps Manage and Motivate Teams

In Chapter 12 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, charter school CFO Andrew Epstein answers "How Are You Learning to Better Manage and Motivate Teams?"  Epstein finds it more challenging to motivate teams than to motivate individuals.  In an environment where roles are constantly shifting, Epstein tries to find a balance between flexibility and structure in role definition. 

Andrew Epstein is CFO of the Ascend Learning Charter School Network.  Previously, Epstein was a finance executive at Democracy Prep Public Schools and an operations executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records.  He is a former Teach for America corps member and middle-school science teacher.  He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

How to Perform Under Pressure and Meet Work Goals - Andrew Epstein

In Chapter 13 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, charter school CFO Andrew Epstein answers "What Does It Mean to Perform Under Pressure in the Work That You Do?"  Epstein finds performing under pressure means working toward and meeting longer-term deadlines while also managing day-to-day operations with his team.  He finds it is important to ask for help when it is needed. 

Andrew Epstein is CFO of the Ascend Learning Charter School Network.  Previously, Epstein was a finance executive at Democracy Prep Public Schools and an operations executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records.  He is a former Teach for America corps member and middle-school science teacher.  He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Andrew Epstein on Solving Work Problems When Things Go Wrong

In Chapter 14 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, charter school CFO Andrew Epstein answers "How Have You Learned to Adapt When Things Have Not Worked Out as Planned?"  Epstein first takes a deep breath.  He makes a point to be supportive of his team and problem solve by using a process that keeps the team working toward a goal.  He uses an example of a school busing problem and how he and his team resolved it. 

Andrew Epstein is CFO of the Ascend Learning Charter School Network.  Previously, Epstein was a finance executive at Democracy Prep Public Schools and an operations executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records.  He is a former Teach for America corps member and middle-school science teacher.  He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Andrew Epstein on Planning Charter School Market Entry Strategy

In Chapter 15 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, charter school CFO Andrew Epstein answers "What Goals are You Setting as You Look to What Comes Next in Your Education Career?"  In his higher education executive job at Ascend Learning, Epstein looks out to opening out multiple new charter schools annually and putting the right business model and financing in place to achieve sustainable school growth. 

Andrew Epstein is CFO of the Ascend Learning Charter School Network.  Previously, Epstein was a finance executive at Democracy Prep Public Schools and an operations executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records.  He is a former Teach for America corps member and middle-school science teacher.  He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Andrew Epstein on Setting Work Expectations When Starting a Family

In Chapter 16 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, charter school CFO Andrew Epstein answers "How Are Your Personal Experiences Shaping Your Professional Aspirations?"  Epstein speaks to the work-life balance he is struggling to better understand.  As his career aspirations grow as a higher education executive, so do his family aspirations to start a family.  This is the challenge he now faces in his late 30s. 

Andrew Epstein is CFO of the Ascend Learning Charter School Network.  Previously, Epstein was a finance executive at Democracy Prep Public Schools and an operations executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records.  He is a former Teach for America corps member and middle-school science teacher.  He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

CFO Andrew Epstein on Getting Management Career Advice

In Chapter 18 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, charter school CFO Andrew Epstein answers "At This Moment in Your Life, Where Are You Seeking Advice and Coaching?"  Epstein reaches out to peers in comparable management roles.  He looks for support learning how to hire and develop bridge positions between higher education manager and executive level jobs.  Further, he looks for guidance on how to better manage home and work balance. 

Andrew Epstein is CFO of the Ascend Learning Charter School Network.  Previously, Epstein was a finance executive at Democracy Prep Public Schools and an operations executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records.  He is a former Teach for America corps member and middle-school science teacher.  He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Kyung B. Yoon on Making Passion for Fighting Poverty Your Career

In Chapter 2 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung B. Yoon answers "How Did Your Passion for Alleviating Poverty Develop and How Has It Been a Common Thread in Your Career?"  Yoon sees connecting her passion to dealing with poverty issues across her career.  From working in economic development to non-profit filmmaking to broadcast journalism to her current role at KACF, Yoon's focus on poverty and social inequality stays central to her work. 

Kyung B. Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

Kyung B. Yoon on Defining Career Goals in an Asian Immigrant Family

In Chapter 3 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung B. Yoon answers "Where Has Your Family Been Most Supportive in Your Career Development?"  Yoon spotlights a time early in her career when she left a secure job at the World Bank for an entry-level job in broadcast journalism.  She remembers how her Korean immigrant parents tied having a secure profession to happiness and how she had to learn to understand their point of view as it applied to caring for their daughter. 

Kyung B. Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

Kyung B. Yoon on Elementary School Influences on Career Choices

In Chapter 4 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung B. Yoon answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental in Shaping Who You Are Today?"  Yoon recounts learning memorization skills as a 6th grade elementary school student.  Learning to memorize and recite poetry gives Yoon an appreciation for memorization and practice she uses later in her career as a journalist and public speaker. 

Kyung B. Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

Kyung B. Yoon on How to Stay Engaged in Your Child's Education

In Chapter 5 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung B. Yoon answers "How Can a Parent Stay Engaged in His or Her Child's Education Without Being Overbearing?"  Experience teaches Yoon to step back and focus on long-term investment in her children's education.  For example, when proofreading her youngest son's paper, Yoon refrains from making changes and instead asks leading questions to help him learn. 

Kyung B. Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

Kyung B. Yoon on the Parenting Transition of Sending Kids Off to College

In Chapter 6 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung B. Yoon answers "How Are You and Your Husband Managing the Transition of Sending Your Kids Off to College?"  Yoon shares her experience sending her oldest teenage son off to college.  She discusses how the process has informed how she and her husband are preparing to send their youngest son to college and readying for the empty nest that will result when they both will be gone. 

Kyung B. Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

Jullien Gordon on How a Hard Work Lifestyle Can Help or Hinder a Family

In Chapter 1 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach Jullien Gordon answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental in Shaping Who You Are Today?"  Growing up with two busy working parents, an anesthesiologist and an oral surgeon, Gordon sees the downside of working a lot, namely having parents miss important events.  Conversely, he watches his 86-year old Godmother keep a family together by employing family at her Carmela and Family Bar-B-Q restaurants in Hayward, California.  Jullien Gordon is a high performance coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase employee performance, motivation, engagement and retention.  He earned a BA from UCLA, an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a Masters of Education from Stanford University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What childhood experiences have been most fundamental in shaping who you are today?

Jullien Gordon: There’s a couple of them. One, I’m the son of two doctors. So I grew up the son of an anesthesiologist and an oral surgeon, and I saw the way my parents worked. They woke up at the crack of dawn, and even on weekends they’d be on call, and so they had to miss some very important events in my life as a child. On the other side, I saw my godmother who—her name is Carmen Kelly and she has a barbecue restaurant in Hayward, California called Carmen & Family Bar-B-Q. And even at the age of 86 today, she still works six days a week. And that restaurant has employed the entire family, and it’s even expanded to three restaurants, run by the two sons. And so, I’ve seen this way of entrepreneurship helping a family stay together as opposed to a career keeping a family apart, and I think that’s a tension that a lot of people deal with growing up. As I think about their careers and think about how their parents manage their careers, how much their dad and mom had to travel, what kind of events they missed. I saw two different models, I didn’t just see one way of doing it.

Erik Michielsen: And how has that reform your own approach?

Jullien Gordon: Well, obviously, I’m an entrepreneur today and I’m trying to think about my life, not just my career, my life, from a lifestyle-design standpoint. So how can I find my unique balance between my career, my family, myself, and my community, and really that’s really been the focus. It hasn’t just been how can I maximize my career and make the most income. I’m not playing a game of income maximization. I’m playing a game of satisfaction maximization. And so it requires me to find my unique balance and designing my life according to that.

How Childhood Experiences Shape Work Ethic - Jullien Gordon

In Chapter 2 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach Jullien Gordon answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?"  Gordon learns his work ethic from both his parents, two practicing physicians.  He takes inspiration from a Jamaican immigrant father - one of seventeen kids - who comes from little, studies hard, and earns professional success.  Gordon takes his first job working as a Little League umpire and goes on to work at a batting cage before going off to college.  Jullien Gordon is a high performance coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase employee performance, motivation, engagement and retention.  He earned a BA from UCLA, an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a Masters of Education from Stanford University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: Where did you learn your work ethic?

Jullien Gordon: My work ethic came from my parents. I mean they were grinding, they’re both doctors. And to be a doctor, you go through medical school and you work harder than anybody else I know. It doesn’t necessarily afford you the best lifestyle, maybe an income later on once you retire, but that’s where I really learned my work ethic. My dad is from Jamaica, he was one of 16 or 17. And I saw him work his way out of that particular environment of having no shoes playing soccer, to going to boarding school, to going to McGill to University of Chicago, to the University of California San Francisco where he ended up running the dental school there. And my mom as well. So I just saw two people working extremely hard, not necessarily getting the full rewards for themselves of working so hard but I definitely get my work ethic from looking at their lives and the way that they navigate it.

Erik Michielsen: What was your first job?

Jullien Gordon: Working as an umpire in the Little League, and I loved it. My little brother was playing in the Little League at the time and sometimes I would have to umpire his games, but I was fair, I was fair. And I remember one time he got so mad ‘cause I called him out at second base when he thought he was safe, and he was mad at me for like a week. After that, I went on to work at a batting cage. You know, too many rain delays for the baseball games, so I said I’m gonna take this indoors, and I ended up working at a batting cage before going off to college.

Jullien Gordon on How to Build Career Coaching Conversation Skiils

In Chapter 13 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach Jullien Gordon answers "How Are Your Coaching Skills Improving as You Build Experience?"  Gordon learns ways to ask someone questions to understand where they are coming from.  He learns different ways to improve the questions he asks and the coaching conversation - and outcome - that results.  Jullien Gordon is a high performance coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase employee performance, motivation, engagement and retention.  He earned a BA from UCLA, an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a Masters of Education from Stanford University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How are your coaching skills improving as you build experience?

Jullien Gordon: So my coaching skills, they come from my personal journey, but before anything, rather than coaching from my experience, I actually coach from my listening. So I actually focus on listening to the individual first. What I found is that oftentimes, especially when you think about self-help books and things of that nature, a lot of times when you read those books and then we try to apply somebody else’s framework or definition of success to our life, it doesn’t work out, because that’s theirs. And so when I coach, I don’t necessarily just take my experiences and translate them to the individual and say, “Here, do this,” instead, I start with deep listening and really thinking about what their situation is and then try to put myself in their shoes and then based on my experiences and my insights regarding that situation, it may inform my answer, but sometimes when I’m helping them, I’m really focused on asking the right questions. Rather than giving people answers, I’m focused on asking the right questions, because I think that when you ask the right questions, then the individual gets insights, and that insight leads to authentic answer for them. And so I think there are some coaches out there who take their experiences and then try to superimpose those experiences on the individual and say, “This worked for me, you should do exactly this,” and that’s not really the way I coach. My experiences help me understand an individual and where they’re coming from in a deeper way, especially as not only I have my experiences but I hear and have the experiences of others that I coach and that I connect with, all those stories are in my listening but I pull bits and pieces from them to help ask the right questions, not necessarily give answers for my coaching clients.

Erik Michielsen: That’s great. How are you learning to ask the right question?

Jullien Gordon: Pausing like this. Not trying to be right. And trusting that the individual, or my audience when I’m speaking to larger groups, have the answers within them, and that I’m just creating the space for them to actually explore what’s best for them. That’s really what it’s been for me. And like I said, sometimes my experiences and the stories that I hear from others help shape the question but I stay with questions rather than answers. A lot of people want answers, but I think when you give somebody a standard answer and they apply it, it may not work for them in the same way that it worked for you.

Jullien Gordon on Improving Career Workshop Experiences

In Chapter 14 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach Jullien Gordon answers "How Are You Learning to Facilitate More Effective Workshop Experiences?"  In his public speaking work facilitating career education workshops, Gordon shares how he has transitioned from providing his audience tools and answers to asking questions and allowing his audience to come up with authentic answers.  Jullien Gordon is a high performance coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase employee performance, motivation, engagement and retention.  He earned a BA from UCLA, an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a Masters of Education from Stanford University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How are you learning to facilitate more effective workshop experiences?

Jullien Gordon: Originally, when I started this work, it was all about giving people the answers, the 8 cylinders of success. Here, here’s my 8 cylinders of success. Try this on and use it for your life, implement it. And while 5 of the cylinders may resonate with you, for somebody else, it may be 3 cylinders, for somebody else it may be all 8. But I found by instead of giving answers and just by asking the right questions, I help the individuals in the audience actually come to their own authentic answers. And it’s their own authentic answers that are gonna stick with them throughout their life. I can give you my weight loss program but if it doesn’t align with who you are then your chances of actually completing it are going to be slim. But if you come up—if I ask you the right questions in terms of your eating patterns, how your body reacts and you come up with your own authentic answers for your diet, your exercise routines, et cetera. What kind of exercise is fun for you? I can’t just run around a track. I need a ball. I need to be playing basketball or I need to be playing soccer. I can’t exercise just by running around a track, that’s not fun, that’s not engaging for me. So, again, it’s been by asking the questions and trusting that the people know the answers. That’s what interviewing is all about, the assumption is that the answer is already within you. And if I can create a safe space and ask the right questions and bring it out, then you are creating your own plan and strategy for the next phase of your life.

Jullien Gordon on Using a Teaching Degree in a Business Career

In Chapter 15 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach Jullien Gordon answers "How Have You Used a Masters Degree in Education in Your Business Career?"  Earning a teaching degree at Stanford helps Gordon better understand how individuals learn and how educational systems facilitate learning.  This shapes how he teaches career education in his business work.  Jullien Gordon is a high performance coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase employee performance, motivation, engagement and retention.  He earned a BA from UCLA, an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a Masters of Education from Stanford University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How have you used your master’s degree in education in your business career?

Jullien Gordon: Well, at my core I’m a teacher, and one thing that I learned in terms of my master’s degree in education was how people learn. And so that’s been core to the way I develop my curriculum, the way I develop workshop experiences. It’s just been extremely valuable in that way. Ultimately I want to expand career education, I think it’s lacking in the same way that I think financial literacy is lacking in our K-12 education, in our college education, and our adult education. Why don’t people know how to do a budget? Why don’t people know how to manage the difference between assets and liabilities? Why don’t people know how to navigate their own career?

For me it’s the same thing and while I haven’t found a way to fully scale career education yet, so that people can manage their own careers and stop relying on their organization to manage their careers for them or their boss to manage their careers for them, I want to—ultimately I want to empower people to be able to navigate their careers on their own. And so that’s why that education at Stanford was so important to me because I understood how educational systems work, and how individuals learn, so I understood the ultimate infrastructure and I understood how people actually receive and retain information, and that shaped my teaching and my structuring of the work that I do.