Simon Sinek on How Civilian Finds Fulfillment Working For Military

In Chapter 11 of 20 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and leadership expert Simon Sinek shares how he has found lasting fulfillment working with the United States government and military. Interfacing with committed individuals dedicated to defending, protecting, and serving the country offers Sinek a personal impression that changes his life. He recounts a story engaging a wounded warrior at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany and offering a "Token of Inspiration". 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 do you find most fulfilling about working with military and government to serve your country?

Simon Sinek: Look, these are people who show up to work, and who decided to do that for a living, decided to do that with their lives, not to get rich. When I get to speak to, or work with the military, or those in government, not a single person there showed up to get rich. None of them, zero. Whether they become disillusioned or not within their careers is a different story, but they showed up with a desire to serve their country. And to be able to give them anything that helps them be better at their jobs, that helps them be better at protecting the country or helping develop better healthcare, it doesn’t matter, is perhaps the most fulfilling work I do. If all I did was get to work with government and military for the rest of my life I would be extremely happy. It’s an amazing feeling to do something that matters. 

Erik Michielsen: When was the first time you felt that way?

Simon Sinek: The first time I felt that way … I got to go to the Pentagon for the first time a few years ago. And just walking the halls, you’re pretty struck by it, you know? And I think D.C. as a town does that as well, but they also deal in power. But when you go, when you walk the halls of the Pentagon and you all these people walking around in various uniforms who have committed their lives to a life of service, it’s pretty humbling, it’s pretty humbling. 

Erik Michielsen: Last year, you had a chance to speak to a large group in Germany. Tell me more about that.

Simon Sinek: Last year, I got to visit Ramstein Air Force base, Spangdahlem Air Force base and Aviano Air Force base in Italy. And over the course of my week with them, I spoke to thousands of troops. One room alone was close to a thousand. It was amazing. But perhaps the most powerful and moving experience I had was at Ramstein. One of the things that Ramstein serves as is the sort of stopping point to the Middle East. Most of the troops and material going to Afghanistan or Iraq or coming back go through Ramstein. 

So it’s a pretty busy, big base.  And one of the missions is to return home the wounded warriors who are brought to Germany for treatment in the hospitals there, and when they can come home they will bring those wounded warriors home. And part of my tour was to go through the facility where they – sort of the weigh station as they sort of were taken out to the plane – and so we were taken around there and shown the facility. And then we went out onto the flight line where we saw a C17, which is a big Air Force cargo plane configured to bring wounded warriors home. You know they had bunks and they had medical equipment in there, and they loaded up say about 15 to 20 wounded warriors – some who were ambulatory and some were carried on stretchers. 

My job was to stand there and observe, that was my job. And I couldn’t, it was incredibly powerful, and I stepped forward without asking permission and went to each one of them and said the exact same thing. I said, “I’m visiting from back home, I’m a civilian, and I just want to say thank you for what you do for us.” And I paid them a token of inspiration, which are these tokens I carry with me. And I paid each of them and I said the exact same thing to each of them: “My name is Simon, I’m a civilian from back home and I just want to say thank you to you guys for what you do for us” and I pay them a token. 

And there was this one young guy who was lying on a stretcher, who was under a blanket strapped in. He had a tube hanging out of every orifice, oxygen over his mouth, and I turned to him and he sort of looked over to me from his stretcher, and I said the same thing, “My name is Simon, I’m a civilian, I’m from back home and I just wanted to pay you this token of inspiration to say thank you to you for what you do for us.” And I held up the token and I said, “I’ll give it to somebody else to hold for you for when you get back home.” Because clearly he was under this blanket in this stretcher all strapped in, and a hand came out of the side of this blanket, right? And I put the token in his hand, right? And he grips it tight, right? And puts his hand back in the blanket. And we never spoke a word, and of course I was, you know, bawling. 

And I learned something that day, I mean, that day changed me.  You know? I don’t have much of a right to complain about my bad days, you know? And even when I was there that week, I remember the jet lag hit me very hard and I’d be falling asleep at dinners and they kept asking me to do more and more and more stuff. And the old me would have said, “you know I’m gonna decline I have to take a rest.” And, I said yes to absolutely everything and pushed my way through all of it. And you know, you meet these young men and women who are willing to put themselves in harm’s way for no other reason than they believe in something bigger than themselves, and you get to meet them. It’s, uh, it changes you. It changes you.

Simon Sinek on What Makes the United States Air Force So Innovative

In Chapter 9 of 20 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and leadership expert Simon Sinek shares what he has learned about open-mindedness and innovation by working with the United States Air Force (USAF). Sinek finds the USAF has created a culture of innovation by encouraging its people to be open-minded thinkers constantly seeking to improve how things work. This openness allows the Air Force to look at different perspectives, including outsider opinions from individuals such as Sinek. 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 working with the Air Force taught you about open-mindedness?

Simon Sinek: They are perhaps the most innovative organization on the planet. If you think about most big corporations – corporations who have significantly contributed to the innovations in our society – most of that have actually contributed one, at best two, things.  Microsoft: Windows, that changed the world. The other stuff? Good stuff … World changing? Wouldn’t go that far. You know? One. One. Apple: Maybe two things in there, you know? The graphic user interface, they didn’t really invent it but they perfected it, you know? So most corporations who develop something big do one thing. Now let’s look at the Air Force. The reason that we have commercial flight came out of military, you know? I mean the mil - the Air Force, or the Army air corps really propelled that industry. Anti-lock breaks, GPS, you know, all of this stuff … Satellite communications … Cell phones, hello?

And all of this stuff came out of the Air Force. And one of the reasons they are so innovative is that they have open minds. They’re constantly looking for better ways to do things, you know? Where they say that every Marine is a rifleman, absolutely every airman is an innovator. That’s just the way they’re wired. And because of that, they are so curious, and so interested in what outsiders have to say. The other armed forces – and most corporations, let’s be honest – they’re much harder to get in, you know? They like to protect themselves, and it’s hard to get in the door. The Air Force, they’re constantly looking, they’re constantly open, they’re constantly curious. It’s not an accident that they found me, because here I am a guy with unusual perspective and they were interested in it. If you want to find new and better ways of doing things, you have to look to other people, ask other people and just get outside opinions. It just goes with the territory.

How Information Sharing Stimulates Public Health Innovation - Clara Soh

In Chapter 9 of 10 in her 2010 interview with Capture Your Flag host Erik Michielsen, health economist and comparative effectiveness researcher Clara Soh Williams shares how information and knowledge sharing enables collaboration and innovation. Soh brings together multiple states' Medicaid groups to address public health policy making challenges. While Medicaid programs differ state by state, Soh finds the knowledge sharing benefits participating groups in ways not previously considered.  Soh holds an MPA in Public Health Finance from New York University and a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.

How Peace Corps Volunteer Reforms Health Care in West Africa - Clara Soh

In Chapter 5 of 10 in her 2010 interview with Capture Your Flag host Erik Michielsen, health economist and comparative effectiveness researcher Clara Soh Williams discusses how her Peace Corps experience in the West African country of the Gambia allowed her to impact a national health care system. Soh's 3-year experience focuses on decentralizing the public health decision-making system. This process involves increasing district health office decision-making capacity around disease surveillance, pharmaceutical procurement and supply chain, and regionally executed mass-immunization and vaccination days. Soh holds an MPA in Public Health Finance from New York University and a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.

How Scientists and Politicans Can Improve Health Policy Decisions - Clara Soh

In Chapter 2 of 10 in her 2010 interview with Capture Your Flag host Erik Michielsen, health economist and comparative effectiveness researcher Clara Soh Williams shares how the late Yale biology professor Alvin Novick impacted her career. Novick, who taught biology at Yale for 48 years, teaches Williams the political implications behind scientific research and policy making. In Novick's "AIDS in Society" class, Soh learns how science is anything but colorblind. By teaching scientists, politicians, and policy makers about each other's motivations and priorities, Soh learns how to increase epidemic response mobilization effectiveness. Soh holds an MPA in Public Health Finance from New York University and a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. Read more about Professor Novick's career here.

Why Governments Should View Education as an Asset - Maurizio de Franciscis

In Chapter 17 of 19 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, education entrepreneur and Global Campus (www.globalcampus.com) founder Maurizio de Franciscis shares why governments should view education as an asset and how they can use it to attract the most talented people to their countries. Just as companies market and recruit to attract top talent, governments need to work with universities to attract top students. Before founding Global Campus, de Franciscis worked at General Electric. He graduated from Universita degli Studi di Roma - La Sapienza - and earned his MBA from INSEAD.

How Fulbright Scholar Overcomes Anti-Americanism Abroad - Adam Carter

In Chapter 16 of 16, micro-philanthropist and humanitarian Adam Carter earns a Fulbright Scholarship and travels to Spain to pursue his studies. On the anniversary of 9/11, Carter finds himself in Morocco confronted by Anti-American sentiment. Carter asks these individuals to respect his opinion and not stereotype based on his nationality. This approach allows the conversation to be human, not political. The respect also opens dialogue to discuss challenging topics such as politics and religion once the individual bond is made. Carter continues to travel the world as founder of non-profit Cause and Affect Foundation (www.causeandaffectfoundation.org).

Courtney Spence on Learning Work Ethic Working For Hillary Clinton

In Chapter 1 of 15 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive and Students of the World founder Courtney Spence answers "During your experience working together in her press office, what did Senator Hillary Clinton teach you about work ethic?"  Spence shares how after graduating Duke University, she started working for Senator Hillary Clinton in her Washington D.C. press office. Senator Clinton inspires Spence through her rigorous daily work ethic including routine, preparation, and team engagement.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  During your experience working together in her press office, what did Senator Hillary Clinton teach you about work ethic?

Courtney Spence:  She is the definition of incredible work ethic.  She was working from 7AM to 11PM every day.  And even when she had her few minutes off she would want to go throughout the offices talk to the interns and talk to people working and say, “Hey, how are you doing? Gosh, it’s so hot out there! What is this climate change thing? We gotta do something about that.”  She was just always thinking and always working and I think as a woman who has overcome so much and has become so successful, she is certainly an incredible role model for me.  And someone that I, as a young 22 year old - my first gig out of college - being able to be in her Washington office, watch her, learn from her, see that she would maybe, might get knocked down, but she’s gonna come up and come up stronger. I don’t think I would be the person I am today without that experience because after just being in her office for a month, I started getting to the office – I wanted to be the first one there.  I would wake up at 5 o’clock and I would be at the office at 6:30 – the doors would be close and I would just wait in the hallway until they opened.  Because I knew if she was working, I wanted to be working.  And I think that experience changed my life forever.

Erik Michielsen:  How did she make you feel part of the team?

Courtney Spence:  First of all she had such a large team, you know, she took the time to make sure that she said hello to everyone and made they were doing alright.  And then for me, the way she made me feel a part of the team was that – I worked in her press office, so I would sometimes do her press briefings before different interviews.  So, I would walk in and I had my little type sheet and here was everything I did all my research on here’s – and she would go through and sometimes she wouldn’t even have to look at it and I would sit back in the interview and I would just watch her incredible memory, her incredible passion.  It was great because I had to do the research, so I learned about what she was about to speak about, but in all honesty though she didn’t even really need that.

Courtney Spence on How U.S. Senatorial Candidate Ron Kirk Inspires After Loss

In Chapter 2 of 15 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive and Students of the World founder Courtney Spence answers "What did working on Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk’s Senatorial Campaign teach you about remaining optimistic through failure?" Spence shares her experience joining Dallas mayor Ron Kirk's U.S. senatorial campaign. The campaign ultimately ends in defeat. Kirk inspires passion in his team that gives its all through his concession speech. In the loss, Kirk finds ways to encourage his team to remain hopeful and optimistic even in difficult times. Spence finds a positive message in Kirk's ability to recover after the loss and embrace his family. Kirk would go on to become a member of the Obama Administration as the 16th U.S. Trade Representative.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  What did working on Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk’s Senatorial Campaign teach you about remaining optimistic through failure?

Courtney Spence:  I came on board to work for Mayor Kirk at the time, it was probably mid-summer, and once you get into a campaign, you are in the campaign and it is your life.  You may have a drink but it will be at 1 in the morning and it will be a quick cocktail and you’re going to bed and waking up early and doing everything over again.  My capacity within the campaign was such that I really got to know the mayor and really spend a lot of time with him and was able to witness fundraising calls and political calls and really see a side to him that I think don’t think many people got to see that were part of the campaign, especially at my young age.  So, the more I knew of him, the more I admired him and liked him and wanted it to give it my all and so, I remember election day.  We got up at 4.  I was on the corner holding up signs and we were going to win.  Because we just were.  The polls were wrong.  All these other rumors flying around, it doesn’t care because how can you now love this man? I love this man. We’re going to win.  And he gave his concession speech – I’m not sure if this is exactly it, but it was something at like 9 o’clock, it was pretty early.  I ran into a bathroom stall and cried.  And then we had the whole campaign, we all went to some bar in Dallas to sort of drink through the loss. The next day he was so optimistic and he was so encouraging and so thankful and so proud of the campaign because of all of us that had been involved.  So, I spent the next two weeks in my apartment doing a lot of reflection and lot – at first it was very devastating because I really had thought we were going to win, but then seeing Mayor Kirk after that, he was happy. He was back. He was with his daughters, he was with his wife, his life was moving on.  And I was like, “If he can get over this, I certainly can get over this.”

Courtney Spence on How U.S. Senate Campaign and Staff Jobs Shape Public Service Career

In Chapter 3 of 15, non-profit executive and Students of the World founder Courtney Spence answers "How have your assorted public services experiences shaped what you seek in a career?" Spence shares how she was raised in a very politically active household where she learned the power of the vote. Public service roles provide Spence purpose. After college, Spence begins a public service career in politics, working for both Senator Hillary Clinton and Dallas Mayor and U.S. Senatorial candidate Ron Kirk. The political experiences inform Spence's decision to pursue a different public service career as a non-profit founder of Students of the World.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  How have your assorted public services experiences shaped what you seek in a career?

Courtney Spence:  Well, first of all I’m really thankful you used the term public service because I think the highest and best use of politics is public service.  I grew up in a very politically active household and I really believe in the power of the vote and the power of the elected official, whether it’s city council member or President of the United States.  And I was also raised by parents that instilled in me that I could be any of those things.  Now, that’s probably not going to be the case but you know it was still -- it was there.  So, this concept of public service, really giving back and serving a greater community beyond yourself is really what I think politics should be about and I was fortunate enough to work directly for two individuals who I think really understood that concept.  Senator Clinton didn’t have to run for office, she had her own legacy in her own right, but she felt the need and a desire and a sort of sense of responsibility to continue her life in public service after the White House.  And you see what she did to get through that and where she is now today, it’s – the change that she’s able to affect and the change that she has and the inspiration she has given to so many young girls all over the world is, and myself being one of them, is really powerful. 

After I spent about six or seven months in Senator Clinton’s office in DC, and then an opportunity to work for Ron Kirk’s senatorial campaign in Dallas came up and Senator Clinton was very encouraging of him, so we had a meeting and I said, “I think I need to go back to my home state and go help this guy win.”  So, I pretty much moved down to Dallas within a week and that was my second experience in politics.

I think for me, looking at a kind of career that I want, given my experience in the public service arena, it made me really challenge myself because I want to be in a place where I feel like I’m giving back at my highest and best use – my greatest potential.  I have been given so much in my life and therefore I should be giving a lot in my life.  I do it because it feels right and it feels good and makes me feel happy and it makes me feel like that’s the trajectory I need to be on.  Now, is that in politics? As I sort of sat back, I’m not sure if I’m great at making the compromises, great at running the campaigns.  I’m not sure that that’s in my chemical structure to be able to withhold or withstand all of that.  Is my highest and best use in the non-profit world? Maybe so.  Is it the Students for the World gig for a while and then something else?  Probably, but who knows?   I think that it’s just one of those things that makes me, has made me continuously re-evaluate what I’m doing with my life because I know that there is a responsibility to give back and understanding what you’re capable of doing and what you’re not capable of doing and what you’re good at and what you’re not good at is really an important part of that.

How to Turn Community Shame into Community Pride - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 11 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis suggests ways municipalities and local governments can use to transform community shame into community pride. Curtis is chief of staff for Austin mayor Lee Leffingwell and has learned to promote Austin across its music, food, fitness, trails and architecture. Curtis looks into darker perspectives, specifically Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is dear to his heart. Curtis' family emigrated from Ireland and established themselves in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Where many Scranton residents see despair in their town, Curtis sees hope, opportunity. Beyond the Vice President Joe Biden comments, Curtis sees an opportunity to champion "The Office" and its flagship, Scranton, PA based company "Dundler Mifflin". He sees possibility where others see hopelessness and highlights several ways the town could not only share more with outsiders, but boost its civic pride in the process.

What Defines Citizenship - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 9 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis defines citizenship as building your community up to a better place than which you found it. Curtis invokes a camping comparison to visualize this. He believes donating time and money, complemented by voting and active participation in understanding the political issues central to the public conversation enable citizenship. Curtis is chief of staff for Austin, Texas Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

How Sun Tzu's Art of War Improves a Political Campaign Strategy - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 8 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis learns effective political campaign management from Sun Tzu's writings, specifically "Art of War." Tzu advises to engage the enemy with a common maneuver and defeat the enemy with an uncommon manuever. Curtis concentrates on the innovative, looking for unique ways to differentiate his campaign and defeat the opposition. During Austin mayoral candidate Will Wynn's campaign, Curtis implements an alternating publicity campaign using one week of policy followed by one week of fun fluff. Curtis finds these little things, in between the common policy maneuvers, put his campaign over the top.

How Citizen Participation Improves Community Decisions - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 7 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis highlights citizen participation theory as a central element in influence strategy around public works and community projects. Rather than focus on consensus building, Curtis promotes participation and the educational elements required to fully inform both sides on the issue. This decreases extreme party influence and creates an open communication that results in revision and, hopefully, project approval.

Why Working a Political Campaign Can Be Life Changing - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 6 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis shares the excitement and challenge that come with managing political campaign operations under short deadlines. Curtis finds common ground comparing political campaign leadership to that of General George Patton. In short, it must move fast and be decisive to be effective. The participatory campaign process can be life-changing, and Curtis encourages young people to experience campaign strategy from the inside as a volunteer.

How Press Secretary and Journalism Teacher Bob Mann Leaves a Legacy - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 5 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis shares the story of Bob Mann, a Democratic Party Press Secretary for Ted Kennedy, a Carter Administration official, and an inspiration to generations of students, including Bush press secretary Karen Hughes. Mann, a career newspaperman, immerses himself into politics and, over time, education, teaching journalism at several Texas schools, including Huston Tillotson University of Texas, Texas State, and SMU. At the sunset of his career, Mann has not only left a legacy across his Democratic political party work as legislative aide and press secretary, but more importantly as that one teacher who made the greatest difference to so many aspiring communications professionals.

How Political Public Affairs Career Stays Creative and Fun - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 4 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis shares how to keep local politics publicity and promotion fun and exciting. Curtis came into political public relations after starting his career in film publicity. Curtis defines publicity as an extreme on the public relations and strategic communications spectrum, opposite from reactive public information officer responsibilities. Curtis embraces the publicity element in local Austin, Texas politics, balancing serious efforts such as Hurricane Katrina disaster relief with light-hearted campaigns such as "Polar Bear" swimming days for the community and press.

How to Find Fulfillment Serving Others in Crisis - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 3 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis shares how an early Catholic education ingrains a lifetime focus on serving others. Curtis finds fulfillment serving community in Austin, Texas, where he balances simple tasks such as helping eldery with groceries with more complex ones, such as Hurricane Katrina disaster relief. Throughout, Curtis finds immense fulfillment helping others each day.