What If You Could Lead?
5 TED Talks That Challenge Everything You Thought You Knew About Leadership
According to Fast Company, companies spend a lot of money on training employees. In 2018, US companies spent $87.6 billion on workplace training. In 2023, training expenditures increased to $101.8 billion, which is like buying them a bunch of cool learning books and sending them to special classes.
This training is important because it helps companies make their workers stronger. When everyone knows more and can do more, the whole company wins!
But guess what? Learning new things doesn’t have to be expensive anymore! Thanks to the internet, it’s like having a giant library and a super smart teacher right in your pocket.
Websites like Udacity, W3Schools, GeeksforGeeks, Udemy, Coursera, and more have lots of cool courses and lessons. You can learn from them anytime, even if your company doesn’t have a big training budget. It’s like having a secret power to help you become a super-skilled leader and grow.
TED Talks are really good videos that teach and inspire people about lots of different things, like fun stuff, design, science, and even leadership. They’re not too long, just a few minutes to a bit more than 20 minutes, but they give cool ideas about being a great leader. You should watch them!
1. Simon Sinek’s “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”
Simon Sinek is really good at leadership things. He teaches at Columbia and wrote cool books like “Start With Why” and “Leaders Eat Last.”
In his awesome TED Talk, which lots of people watched (more than 24 million!), he talks about how leaders can make people work together, build trust, and make things better.
If you want to learn how to be better at convincing people and getting them to do what you want, just spend 18 minutes watching this amazing talk.
2. Sheryl Sandberg’s “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders”
Sheryl Sandberg, who works at Facebook, talks about why fewer women than men become really important in their jobs.
She gives three strong tips for women who want to be leaders and reach the top levels of their careers.
3. Derek Sivers’s “How to Start a Movement”
Derek Sivers gave a famous TED talk about leadership that lots of people watched (almost five million!). It’s really powerful, and guess what? It’s under four minutes!
That’s because sometimes, the most important lessons don’t need a long explanation. Derek uses pictures to show how leadership works and how we decide who should be the leader. Check it out!
4. Dan Ariely’s “What Makes Us Feel Good About Our Work?”
A great leader knows that to get people to do things, you need to make them happy about it. But, it’s not always easy.
Dan Ariely, who studies how people behave, talks about why it’s important to feel good about our work.
He shows this through two cool experiments. By understanding this, leaders can better encourage and cheer on others to do well.
5. Rosalinde Torres’s “What It Takes to Be a Great Leader”
Rosalinde Torres, who knows a lot about leadership, says there are many good programs, but still, many companies don’t have enough leaders.
She spent 25 years watching great leaders and wants to help. She shares three important questions that future leaders must ask to do well in the future.
Thoughts
Being a good leader is really important, and there are smart people who share helpful ideas about it. Remember, leaders are the ones who help others succeed.
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” — Bill Gates
Thank you for taking the time to read this! 🙏😊
