Teds To Get Ahead

Want a free pep talk from the stars of business and beyond? Step this way

They’ve launched hundreds of careers, landed unknowns lucrative book deals and notched up billions of views on YouTube. Ted Talks are a phenomenon – we started ‘leaning in’ thanks to Sheryl Sandberg’s Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders, we upped our sleep game because of Arianna Huffington’s rallying cry, and we know a good chunk of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists after Beyoncé sampled it on Flawless. But finding new talks can be tough – each one is supposed to be on an ‘idea worth spreading’, but often it’s a trope you’ve heard before. We’ve waded through hours of footage to find the talks that will actually inspire you.

GET COMFORTABLE WITH BEING UNCOMFORTABLE

The idea: Be the domino.

Who: Luvvie Ajayi – a writer and activist who calls herself a “professional shade thrower”, and whose fans include Bono and Shonda Rhimes.

What? Ajayi believes troublemakers can make real change – just by stating the controversial opinion. She talks about times in her life when she’s said something she assumed would be unpopular (like criticising a well-known author), only to realise others not only felt the same, but were thankful she’d started the conversation. Quote: “For a line of dominoes to fall, one has to fall first, which then leaves the others choiceless to do the same… Being the domino, for me, looks like speaking up and doing the things that are really difficult, especially when they are needed.”