TED Business TED Talks

What do you do when a company doesn’t act in line with your values? Boycott? Divest? In essence, stop the flow of money? That's the typical advice. But sustainability consultant (and former comedian) Vinay Shandal says we’re missing a whole set of tools more effective than walking away. He looks to the most intimidating and influential profit-chasing investors in the world for techniques on how to make real social change. 

After the talk, Modupe chats with Corey Hajim, TED’s Business Curator, to try to apply Vinay’s ideas to their own lives. Without getting exhausted.  

Confidence. We talk about it all the time. We know it matters. And still, educator and activist Brittany Packnett thinks we underestimate it. "Confidence,” she says, “is the necessary spark before everything that follows.”

In this talk, Brittany identifies the three basic elements of this elusive force, which can be especially valuable for people whose role models don’t look like them.

After the talk, Modupe shares one more technique that has propelled her year after year at work. Spiderman makes a brief appearance.

Today, an episode from WorkLife with Adam Grant, another TED podcast.

Many workplaces have become increasingly lonely, even before the coronavirus pandemic made more of us literally remote. It’s not just an unpleasant feeling—loneliness can hurt our health and our job performance. Find out why it's time for happy hours to finally die—and how it might take less than a minute to start building real connections.

Subscribe to WorkLife wherever you're listening to this.

"Today we're sharing an episode from another TED podcast: ZigZag, hosted by Manoush Zomorodi.

In 2018, Backstage Capital's Arlan Hamilton was on the cover of Fast Company magazine. The headline was irresistible: homeless, gay, Black woman becomes hot-shot Silicon Valley investor. But the reality is that Black female founders still get token amounts of funding, despite being the fastest growing demographic in the startup world. On this episode, Arlan reflects on whether she's improved the plight of “underestimated and underrepresented” founders and how she explains privilege to white, male investors who don't understand the point of her investment fund. Plus, Manoush's daughter weighs in on entrepreneurship.

Subscribe to ZigZag wherever you're listening to this. "

This year we’ve heard a lot of companies step up—or at least, say they’re stepping up—and making diversity a priority. But what does it mean to truly build an inclusive workplace?

In this interview from TED@BCG, Starbucks COO Rosalind G. Brewer lays out how to bring change to companies from the grassroots, by focusing not on metrics, but relationships. In a candid conversation, she shares Starbucks’ missteps over the years and how they addressed their own failings. The lessons aren’t just for the office, but for our own communities and families.

Athletes train their bodies to run faster, jump higher, throw farther. So why don't they train their minds, too? Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, the highest paid player in the NFL, shares how “neutral thinking” helps him handle high pressure situations, on and off the field. After the talk, host Modupe Akinola examines how we can use stress to our advantage.