Most leadership advice you find online is just management theory dressed up in buzzwords. It ignores the reality that 90% of the issues you face in tech (or any industry) are fundamentally human issues.
If you want to step up and actually lead, you need to understand how people think, what drives them, and why they resist change. Here are four talks that skip the fluff and give you those mental models.
1. Sir Ken Robinson: Education and Creativity
Why? It’s the most viewed TED Talk ever for a reason. It is passionate, captivating, funny, and makes its point so clearly you’ll want to pull your children out of school because the system is stifling little Alfie’s chance of tearing up Broadway.
The practical upshot: Leading requires you to articulate a need with drive, clarity, and unshakeable determination. Robinson demonstrates exactly how to challenge a massive, legacy system without losing your audience. Just watch the talk.
2. Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action
Why? If you’re in any management or senior leadership role and haven’t heard of Simon Sinek yet, please tell me where your tiny bolt hole is, and I will come join you.
He describes a framework called the “Golden Circle.” The examples he gives will fundamentally change the way you approach getting buy-in for your projects.
The practical upshot: This will force you to question your approach to every future action or direction you take. As simple as it sounds, having a clear “Why” you are doing something entirely changes how you deliver the “What” and the “How.” If you are just telling your team “what” to build, you aren’t leading them.
3. Derek Sivers: How to Start a Movement
Why? It’s hilarious, and it’s barely three minutes long. But it perfectly illustrates the messy, uncomfortable reality of putting in the effort to get something off the ground, no matter how crazy you look.
The practical upshot: If you’re a nut with a good idea, and you don’t want to be a lone nut, this is the video for you. It teaches the vital importance of the “first follower.” It will add a necessary dash of bravery to your next big presentation or architecture meeting.
4. Seth Godin: How to Get Your Ideas to Spread
Why? Any leader needs to be able to market their ideas. It doesn’t matter how good your code is, or how solid your strategy is, if you can’t get people to care. Godin explains that it is all about understanding people’s otaku (a Japanese term for a geeky, obsessive interest).
The practical upshot: At a bare minimum, watch this to understand the Diffusion of Innovation curve. It explains exactly why most organizations are stuck in the “laggard” phase, and what actually drives the early adopters to take a risk on your ideas. It links perfectly with Sinek’s talk and gives you the blueprint for pushing past corporate inertia.