5 Must-See TED Talks for Career Professionals
Are you regularly watching TED Talks? If you’re not, you are missing out on free professional development.
To give your clients the best chance for success, you need to remain on the leading edge. TED.com is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. The organization believes passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. For this reason, they have built a free clearinghouse that offers knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers.
Here’s a compilation of Ted Talks recommended by Career Professionals of Canada’s Experienced Practitioners Mastermind Group that are sure to energize your passion for Career Development. For the week, we recommend that you start your workday with one talk.
Don Tapscott: Four principles for the open world (18 minutes)
The recent generations have been bathed in connecting technology from birth, says futurist Don Tapscott, and as a result the world is transforming into one that is far more open and transparent. In this inspiring talk, he lists the four core principles that show how this open world can be a far better place. Don Tapscott can see the future coming … and works to identify the new concepts we need to understand in a world transformed by the Internet.
Steve Jobs: How to live before you die (15 minutes)
At his Stanford University commencement speech, Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar, urges us to pursue our dreams and see the opportunities in life’s setbacks — including death itself. As CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs spearheaded a few of the most iconic products in technology, entertainment and design.
Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work (10 minutes)
Work-life balance, says Nigel Marsh, is too important to be left in the hands of your employer. Marsh lays out an ideal day balanced between family time, personal time and productivity — and offers some stirring encouragement to make it happen. (Filmed at TEDxSydney.) Nigel Marsh is the author of “Fat, Forty and Fired” and “Overworked and Underlaid.”
Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts (19 minutes)
“In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated. Our world prizes extroverts — but Susan Cain makes a case for the quiet and contemplative.”
Andy Puddicombe: All it takes is 10 mindful minutes (10 minutes)
When is the last time you did absolutely nothing for 10 whole minutes? Not texting, talking or even thinking? Mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe describes the transformative power of doing just that: Refreshing your mind for 10 minutes a day, simply by being mindful and experiencing the present moment. (No need for incense or sitting in uncomfortable positions.) Mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe wants to make meditation accessible to everybody: for a happier, healthier you.
Do you have some favourite TED Talks? Are there some you recommend to your clients? Please continue the discussion and post some links in the comments section below.
Thank you to the Experienced Practitioners Mastermind Group Members for providing this list of TED talks for Career Practitioners:
- Sharon Graham, Facilitator
- Maureen McCann
- Maureen Farmer
- Wayne Pagani
- Kevin Schafer
- Adrienne Tom
- Carrie Wakeford
- Daisy Wright
Learn how to join a Mastermind Mentoring Group facilitated by Career Professionals of Canada and get professional development throughout the year.
Great list, Sharon!
A few other “MUST” see TED talks for me are:
Carolyn Casey – Looking Beyond Limits
Larry Smith – Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career (from a TEDx Waterloo speech)
….followed by Michael Litt the next year with “Why You Have To Fail To Have a Great Career
One of my absolute favorites of all time as well, is Chris Abani: On Humanity. As Career Professionals, the simple kindness that we extend to our clients by listening and sharing their pain is a compassion that is not always present in our daily lives. Humanity is a mirror, reflecting your own activities back at you – this is a touching and brilliant TED talk that I watch whenever I need to be reminded that there has to be kindness in everything that we do.
Cheers all!
Thanks for posting. I saw the Steve Jobs one a few years ago. The title of Nigel Marsh’s talk is interesting: a phrase that implies when you are at work you are dead. I wrote a piece about just that phrase at http://actsofleadership.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/life-balance.html if you are interested in carrying on the discussion with careers people in Canada.
I hadn’t heard of Don Tapscott but after watching his TED talk I was inspired to write a blog post about it. I am not so optimistic as Don is about the digital revolution. If you are interested in reading, go to http://actsofleadership.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/humanity-is-building-machine.html. Again, thanks for sharing. Appreciate the exposure to new ideas.
Thank you for these. I work with university students and am often asked to speak to graduate students in particular. One TED talk I often refer to is Daniel Pink’s regarding motivation: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation
These students, one might think, know a lot about motivation, but they have frequently become disconnected from themselves in the long, onerous journey to a graduate degree. He talks about extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation and does it well.