Three Great TED Talks Small Business Owners Ought to Know About

It’s hard to come across a TED Talk that isn’t compelling. Within each of the roughly eight to eighteen minute ‘Talks’, there is at least one nugget of goodness, an idea that deserves to be celebrated and disseminated. As an organisation, TED is all about advocating engagement, curiosity, and change. These are values that a developing and growing businessperson ought not to neglect. Lessons applicable to business people can be found in most clips on the TED site. However below are three of the most recent, with concepts you can implement in your business today.   1. Profit’s not always the point, Harish Manwani Manwani starts his talk by presenting the idea that we are still trapped by Adam Smith’s belief and business philosophy that by operating according to self-interest we do the most good for society. He says this reflects the “three G’s”, of growth that is consistent, growth that is competitive and growth that is profitable. However according to Manwani, this is not good enough. We need to have a “fourth G”, which is responsible growth. Now before you switch off or retort that this is too broad a concept to implement in small to medium businesses, Manwani says that the core business tenants of values and purpose are central to achieving the fourth G. We all have the power as business owners to redefine our business models; making sure that in the process we can change people’s lives. It is as Manwani asserts, “small actions, big difference.”     2. What it takes to be a great leader, Roselinde Torres   Roselinde Torres asks a well-worn question, ‘What makes a great leader today?’ Though she offers a distinct set of questions that she believes define what it is to be one. She asks, “Where are you looking to anticipate the next change to your business model or your life?” Considering this question, she believes, permits the notion that “great leaders are not head down. They see around corners, shaping their future, not just reacting to it.” She continues, “What is the diversity measure of your personal and professional stakeholder network?” She says this, believing that fantastic leaders understand that having a diverse network is a source of pattern identification, and thus solutions, because you have access to people that think differently to you. Finally, she questions “Are you courageous enough to abandon a practice that has made you successful in the past?” The best leaders dare to be different and “don’t just talk about risk-taking, they actually do it.”     3. How to make stress your friend, Kelly McGonigal   Stress can significantly affect how you conduct yourself in life as well as your business. Kelly McGonigal humorously brings to the attention of her audience a recent American study on stress and death, drawing the conclusion that people who experienced a lot of stress but did not view stress as harmful were no more likely to die than someone who had relatively little stress. She compounds this with the new scientific assertion that when you change your mind about stress, you can change your body’s response to it. We are encouraged to view physical signs of stress as our bodies being energised, preparing us for the challenge. A fast heartbeat means more oxygen to the brain. In turn we are less anxious and more confident. We can transform our experience of stress, and by doing this, we are saying “you can trust yourself to handle life’s challenges, and you’re remembering that you don’t have to face them alone”.     Other great TED Talks:   How great leaders inspire action, Simon Sinek   How data will transform business, Philip Evans   This post was co-authored by Emma Grimley. Emma is currently completing a journalism internship at the Australian Businesswomen’s Network. She studies Bachelor of Arts (Media) and Bachelor of Laws at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.