How to Find Mentors and Receive Support in Difficult Times - Doug Jaeger

In Chapter 6 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, designer Doug Jaeger talks about finding support from mentors and friends in difficult times. Jaeger shares approaches he has used through low times he experienced losing a parent and also a business. He finds mentor support to understand business challenges and not resist looking at both positive and negative sides to solving a particular problem. Ultimately this helps Jaeger identify what is truly important so he may address the problem or issue with greater clarity. Jaeger is a partner at design firm JaegerSloan - http://jaegersloan.com/ - and is also president of the Art Director's Club - http://www.adcglobal.org/ . Previously he founded thehappycorp and has served in creative director leadership roles at TBWA/Chiat/Day and JWT. Jaeger holds a BFA in Computer Graphics and Art Media Studies from Syracuse University.

How Can Creative Professionals Be Better Managers - Doug Jaeger

In Chapter 5 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, designer Doug Jaeger shares the conflict inherent developing management skills in a creative profession. It comes down to using effective communication to create a sharing and collaboration focused culture. Jaeger has found creative training approaches, especially the individual responsibility around making something, are often independent from team learning and experiences. This training encourages creatives to take full responsibility and to not let go of it for an entire project. This mindset contrasts with a business or management environment where collaboration and sharing is key. This is exemplified in advertising agency environments that have arts, account management, and media buying and strategy groups. Jaeger is a partner at design firm JaegerSloan - http://jaegersloan.com/ - and is also president of the Art Director's Club - http://www.adcglobal.org/ . Previously he founded thehappycorp and has served in creative director leadership roles at TBWA/Chiat/Day and JWT. Jaeger holds a BFA in Computer Graphics and Art Media Studies from Syracuse University.

Why to Channel Creative Aspirations in Advertising and Design Career - Doug Jaeger

In Chapter 5 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, designer Doug Jaeger shares his aspiration to create a legacy of creation across the products, experiences, and campaigns he develops as an advertising and design professional. Jaeger constantly looks for ways to create and share things in faster and faster cycles. He finds support using mechanical and technical tools. Over time, Jaeger finds fulfillment not only in creating things but also in creating things that last and have a timeless element. Jaeger is a partner at design firm JaegerSloan - http://jaegersloan.com/ - and is also president of the Art Director's Club - http://www.adcglobal.org/ . Previously he founded thehappycorp and has served in creative director leadership roles at TBWA/Chiat/Day and JWT. Jaeger holds a BFA in Computer Graphics and Art Media Studies from Syracuse University.

Simon Sinek on Why Greatness Starts and Ends With Passion

In Chapter 13 of 20 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and leadership expert Simon Sinek shares what performing artists have taught him about preparation, process, and passion. Sinek finds passion matters on the bookends. It starts things. It is the process, or preparation, where people differentiate, develop, and ascend as individuals and as work - or art - creators. This process is where individuals accept and embrace technical capacity and open themselves to failure and the willingness to learn from and iterate upon it. Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer who applies his curiosity around why people do what they do to teach leaders and companies how to inspire people. He is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". Sinek holds a BA degree in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen: What has your passion for the performing arts taught you about the power of preparation?

Simon Sinek: There is something magical about somebody, an artist, who is willing to put himself out there, to share with am audience, to share with the world, something that they have created. And there is the very high possibility of failure, that it won’t be good. And if any component doesn’t work it can affect the thing as a whole. Um, preparation is interesting. I’m a great believer in process, to a degree. 

Which is – you have to be good at what you’re doing, and you have to understand your own discipline and have a technical grounding, but that’s not where it ends. I think where passion matters is on the bookends. You know, people start things because they’re passionate, you know? “I was passionate about this so I decided to start my own business,” or, “I was passionate about this so I started to take classes.” Passion’s what gets things started. 

And then it’s that process, it’s that preparation that you become understanding of, where it becomes intellectualized, that thing that you like, and that’s where I think most people fall down. “Oh my goodness there’s a lot of work here,” you know? So that usually ends that “passion” pretty quickly, or they get stuck in there, where it becomes only learning and only thinking. And really, there’s a point at which you have to say, “okay, you know what? I know how to do this; I’m good at this. I have to trust that I’m good at this, I have to trust the training and now I’m gonna go back to that passion again.” 

And those are the few who are able to truly catapult themselves, or their work, to this new level where we say it’s great, not just good. Because they’ve allowed themselves to now accept the technical capacity and leave themselves open to the potential for making mistakes again. Children have passion and they’re beautiful to watch, and they make a total mess. And these few here, they kind of have a childish way about them, they kind of act like children in some way, where it’s a little bit reckless abandon but for the fact that they have training and grounding and preparation. And I think those – that’s a beautiful thing to pursue. It’s a hard thing to do, because now that you’re technically based and you have an understanding, are you willing to fail? Yes here, because you don’t know anything [taps table] and yes here if you can be great.

Simon Sinek on How Setting Unrealistic Goals Can Serve the Greater Good

In Chapter 4 of 20 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and leadership expert Simon Sinek learns to set big, often unrealistic goals to advance his ambition to change the world. Similar to Big Hairy Audacious Goals - BHAG - Sinek finds underachieving on large goals to be more rewarding and inspiring than overachieving on small goals. Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer who applies his curiosity around why people do what they do to teach leaders and companies how to inspire people. He is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". Sinek holds a BA degree in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen: Why do you prioritize serving the greater good in doing what you’re doing?

Simon Sinek:  It’s easy to pull things back; it’s very hard to ramp things up. And I’d rather start with something that’s too big and pull it back into reality, than start with something that’s so easy that you can’t really get it up. For example, you know, don’t set your goals realistically, set them entirely unrealistically. I mean, shoot for 80 and be disappointed when you hit 70. As opposed to shooting for 20 and being ecstatic when you hit 21. “We beat our goal!” Yeah, but it was a low goal. You know? I think, I think to be frustrated and achieving something, rather than ecstatic and achieving less, is a better way to live. Not to mention you achieve more. And so, I’m a great believer in the greater good –like those things, like so big, they’re ridiculous. Like, you know my goal, it’s a hundred year goal, it’s called world peace. Pshhh! You know? So daunting, you know? But that’s the idea. If I fail – and I certainly won’t achieve it in my lifetime – I like to think that what I’ll contribute towards that ridiculous idealistic nonsense goal will be more than if I say, “if I can just be happy by myself in my little house,” you know? Eh, I mean that’s nice and all, but I like the idea of contributing to your neighbor as well.

Simon Sinek on How Finding Purpose Increases Sense of Fulfillment

In Chapter 3 of 20 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and leadership expert Simon Sinek loses his passion and rebounds by understanding his why, his purpose. Sinek references "Man's Search for Meaning" author Viktor Frankl and the three means Frankl identified to find purpose: through a loving relationship, service, and suffering. Sinek came to understand his own why through suffering and reinvention of self. By clarifying his why, Sinek better understands what actions to take to live a more meaningful and fulfilled life. Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer who applies his curiosity around why people do what they do to teach leaders and companies how to inspire people. He is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". Sinek holds a BA degree in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen: How has better understanding your "why" put you in a more impactful position to change the world?

Simon Sinek: Well, I mean, I'm a guinea pig, you know? When I discovered this thing called "The Why" it came at a time in my life when I had lost my passion for what I was doing. And it wasn't because I saw a market opportunity, or it was an academic exercise, it came out of a time of need. Victor Frankle, the guy who wrote "Man's Search for Meaning". He said that you can find your purpose one of three ways: Through a close, loving relationship; through service; or through suffering. And for better or for worse, mine came through suffering. I wouldn't go through what I went through again, I have no desire to go through what I went through, but I'm glad that it happened. And I literally stopped talking about what I do and started talking about what I believed in the world that I imagined.

You know, there are over 90 percent of people who go home at the end of the day not feeling fulfilled by the work that they do. And this is the point I was in in my own life. Everything superficial looked good but I didn't - I didn't care - I didn't love what I did I just, I went through the motions. And I am now working towards a world in which that statistic is reversed. I imagine a world in which over 90 percent of the population is fulfilled by what they do, that 90 percent of the population goes home at the end of the day and says, "I love my job; I love my work." And for me, that kind of focus is itself fulfilling. To be able to contribute and help build that world, and to see it build. So, understanding my own "why" has absolutely contributed to my own sense of fulfillment. 

Simon Sinek on How Openness to Unknown Improves Public Speaking Skills

In Chapter 2 of 20 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and leadership expert Simon Sinek embraces continuous improvement to incrementally improve his oratory and communication skills. Sinek prioritizes not only practice but also taking risks that make him uncomfortable. Whereas this would have been unthinkable earlier in his career, Sinek applies the lessons learned and incremental confidence to take greater risks when speaking to audiences. Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer who applies his curiosity around why people do what they do to teach leaders and companies how to inspire people. He is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". Sinek holds a BA degree in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen:  How do you use practice and repetition to improve your public speaking skills?

Simon Sinek: Rarely are we instant experts. You may have a particular gift or affinity towards something but you still get better. You know? People would pay me high compliments when I started speaking, and then people who see me a year or two later say that I'm even better, and I feel it.

Erik Michielsen: Why is that?

Simon Sinek: Because you, you learn more, you know? I think that hubris is dangerous. I think to think you're an expert at anything is a foolish pursuit. You're never, you're never as good as you could be. There's always room for improvement, there's always room to get better. You know, that doesn't mean you have to listen to all the advice, just you know, not necessarily does everybody know best, but to believe that you can be better, and to believe that you can offer more is a constant pursuit. You know, I used to think being a public speaker was being poised, and presenting in a way that was compelling, and speaking at the right pace, and that's a part of it, but I have been taking more risks lately doing things that are very unstructured and very uncomfortable. And I will now do, like if I have an hour to speak, I'd rather speak for twenty minutes and do forty minutes of questions. And who knows how that's gonna go? And that, to me, is the best. And so I'm a better speaker because now I'm way more open to the unknown; where a few years ago that, that would have scared me. 

Simon Sinek on How TED Talk Accelerates Career and Raises Aspirations

In Chapter 1 of 20 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and leadership expert Simon Sinek shares how the positive response from his 2009 TEDx talk has changed his life. In the fall of 2009, Sinek released his first book and did the TED talk. The TED website promoted the talk and it went on to become one of the most favorited talks of all time. As the talk reached global audiences, Sinek's reach also increased. The experience validated Sinek's concept and increased his expectations and aspirations to affect positive change globally. Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer who applies his curiosity around why people do what they do to teach leaders and companies how to inspire people. He is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". Sinek holds a BA degree in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen: What has the positive response to your TED talk done to influence your plans for what comes next?

Simon Sinek: The TED talk completely changed my life I'd say. You know, I was on this nice path, sharing this thing called "The Why" and was very excited when I got an opportunity to write a book. But it was the opportunity, to not only do a TED X, but the fact that TED put it on the main website - I only found out about it the morning it happened - that things started moving much quicker.  

It was one of the most favorited talks of all time, which was pretty humbling, and what started to happen was people who I never imagined that I could reach or get to - internationally even - started to hear this message. And lots of other people started talking about it and sharing it. And it was quite fun and quite remarkable that people knew about this thing called "The Why" but they didn't know me. Prior to that, it was really only people who knew me or had a couple of degrees of separation, and so the ability for TED to reach - just such a remarkable number, and it sounds hackneyed, you know, the power they have, but they have remarkable power so that was very exciting.

What Gatorade Teaches About Social Media Branding Innovation - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 10 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich shares how big brands are innovating customer relationship marketing by using large scale social media monitoring. She cites Gatorade, and its social media "war room" as an example of how a company is putting a higher priority on monitoring and engaging social media customer feedback, ideas, and exchanges. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

How to Use Location Applications to Improve Brand Marketing - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 9 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich shares what she considers when designing online experiences to connect consumers to in-store purchases. Giegerich defines this as the art of checking in. She points out negotiating the conversation around high impact, low volume audience versus larger reach marketing alternatives such as television. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

The Art of the Check-In as a Social Media Branding Tool - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 8 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich defines what it means to check-in using social media such as Foursquare and the resulting art behind the check-in experience. Giegerich ties both product and personal branding to the check-in experience and how location-specific or brand-specific check-ins help define a person over time. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

Why Marketers Should Empower Audiences to Speak for Brands - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 7 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich shares why audience participation plays such an important role creating a brand experience. Giegerich highlights the increasing acceptance of marketers empowering their audiences to speak for the brands. When audiences create the messaging, they feel more invested in the brand and is more likely to buy the brand. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

How Change and Awareness Enable Innovative Thinking - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 6 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich shares her thoughts on defining and creating innovative thinking. As a marketer, Giegerich defines innovation as a product of awareness, having your eyes open all the time. She intentionally puts herself outside the office on the street to look for new marketing ideas and ways to communicate with people. This leads Giegerich to change her routine and rhythm each week, including biking to work one day a week in Los Angeles. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

How Passion for Coffee Informs Innovation Education - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 5 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich finds her passion for coffee creates a great platform for learning innovation and storytelling. She credits this discovery to studying Frans Johansson, author of the "Medici Effect" which details how diversity and passion can foster innovative thinking. Giegerich finds coffee provides her inspiration at its intersection of story, art, and technology. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

How Conference and Event Speaking Enhance Career - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 4 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich furthers her career by participating in conference and event speaking opportunities. The experiences introduce Giegerich to industry peers and the conversation provides an educational and motivational experience Giegerich Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

How Manager and Director Leadership Roles Differ - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 3 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich shares what has changed moving from a manager role to a director role. As a manager at HBO, Giegerich was not responsible for a team. Instead, she focuses on managing up, which she relates to growing up and building relationships with parents. In her new role, she learns to lead and empower a team by both managing up and down. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

How Marketer Learns to Sell Brands Content Innovation - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 2 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich learns to sell brands content ideas and innovation through her transition from HBO to advertising agency Initiative Worldwide. Coming from a content company, HBO, she learns to apply skills here to different content-based brands. She learns the importance of learning new markets, including consumer goods and automotive, to understand how brands operate and work. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.

Why to Work in an Advertising Agency - Caroline Giegerich

In Chapter 1 of 10 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, marketing innovator and digital strategist Caroline Giegerich shares why she enjoys working in an advertising agency environment. Over the past year, Giegerich left a digital marketing position at HBO for an agency. She enjoys getting to work across multiple major brands - including Lucas Arts, Kia, Dr. Pepper / Snapple, and Liongate - and their different challenges. The transition into a client services environmment required Giegerich to learn the various groups within the agency and how teams collaborate. Giegerich is currently Director of Innovations at Initiative, where she brainstorms and executes cross-platform marketing strategies. She has worked in online marketing roles at both HBO and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a BA in Pre-Med Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.