Ted Talks are the videos that everyone’s heard of and the videos with the highest production values. But whilst they do have ‘ideas worth spreading‘, don’t be afraid to look further afield.
Below are the best leadership videos, as recommended by readers and contributors. They each have a series of focused questions to think about or to use as the basis for your unit leadership study periods. If you find more, share them with other leaders by emailing us.
Intelligent Disobedience by Ira Chaleff at the Centre for Army Leadership Mr Ira Chaleff is one of the leading thinkers on followership. In this video he talks about intelligent disobedience: The critical skill for mission success and upholding military reputation. He explains why followers must be allowed to speak up to their leader and how…
DetailsDavid Marquet. Intent Based Leadership. Hear (but don’t see) David Marquet, former submarine Captain and author of ‘Turn the Ship Around‘ explain how he used mission command and genuine empowerment (he calls it ‘intent based leadership’) to turn around the way his submarine worked. David was posted to a submarine of a different type to…
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Roselinde Torres. What it Takes to be a Great Leader. In this 10 min video Rosalinde suggests that 21st Century leadership is referenced by three questions: Where are you looking to anticipate change in your organisations life? And if you are looking, are you willing to make a decision to overcome the problems that the…
DetailsThis TED Leadership playlist brings together 12 episodes on the subject of leadership and motivation. As well as the other TED talks already posted here, there are talks on tribal leadership, trial and error and how to lead like the great conductors. Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action Fields Wicker-Miurin: Learning from leadership’s missing manual Itay…
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Simon Sinek. How Great Leaders Inspire Action. Good leaders inspire and give you a vision that you can buy into. They inspire you to action, to achieve the vision. Without action, without achieving a task, a team isn’t a team. Its just a collection of people. Simon Sinek explains why the ‘why’ is more important…
DetailsSimon Sinek. Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe. Simon Sinek talks about psychological safety and how leaders provide it. The talk links to the Army Leadership Framework’s idea of ‘what leaders are’: leaders have psychological influence because they prove they are in it for their tribe (and its reputation), not in it for themselves.…
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Drew Dudley. Everyday Leadership. A short video that asks whether you are having a small effect on peoples’ lives without even knowing it. Leaders can have these positive and negative effects, often without being aware that they are doing it. As Patton, said, you are always on parade. Not only does this mean you are…
DetailsDan Pink, The Puzzle of Motivation. Leaders motivate and Dan Pink talks about what science tells us about motivation. Extrinsic motivations (reward and punishment) and intrinsic ones (internal motivations). It’s a great talk. So great, in fact, that it was recommended to the Army’s general staff in a letter from DCGS following their 2017 conference.…
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