Best Mentorship TED Talks to Motivate Your Team

TED is a platform where the world’s compelling thinkers, innovators, and storytellers unleash their wisdom in concise talks that leave a lasting impact. Unlike boring lectures and dusty textbooks, TED offers a vibrant cocktail of knowledge, passion, and laughter, served in short and understandable one-way conversations. 

A highly reputable platform such as TED Talks has featured some of the world’s leading experts on motivation, mentoring, and team building, sharing their insights on how to create a work environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to do their best work. When teams are motivated and mentored, they become more productive, more creative, and are more likely to achieve their goals. A right-mentored team is more likely to achieve their targets and become successful professionals.

There are also a few TED Talks for inspiring everyday leaders. We have collected some of the best ones for mentoring and motivating any team.

“Science of Mentorship” by Shawn Blanchard

Sharn Blanchard explains mentorship in detail on the TED Talks platform. He categorizes mentorship into three categories. He tells his own story of transforming from a mentee to a mentor. Shawn delivers this incredibly well-structured talk and explains the cross-generational impact of mentorship.

Key takeaway

“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown

Brown, a renowned researcher on vulnerability, challenges the notion that vulnerability is a weakness. On the contrary, she believes embracing vulnerability while accepting mistakes and acknowledging shortcomings can be used as the foundation for deeper connection, trust, and authentic leadership. This TED Talk resonates perfectly with team leaders who are passionate to create a safe space for their team and believe in the results of open communication.

Key Takeaway

By showing their vulnerability, leaders can pave the way for team members to do the same, leading to stronger bonds and more effective collaboration.

“Failure and the Importance of Mentor” by Patrick Boland

In this TED Talk delivered in 2015, Patrick Boland explains why failures are an important part of growing and learning and how it plays an important part in success. According to Patrick, a mentor can help understand the causes of failure and help overcome any obstacle. He explains how effective mentoring can guide a mentee through a failing phase.

Key Takeaway

Try and discuss that failure is a destination, it is a turning point in a journey. Explain this to your mentee and help them turn any failure into a guiding light towards success.

“The Gift of Failure” by Jessica Lahey

Lahey, an educator, challenges the fear of failure often ingrained in educational and professional settings. In her TED Talk, she conveys the importance of embracing failure as a learning opportunity that fosters resilience, creativity, and ultimately, success. This talk became popular among both leaders and team members who wanted to overcome perfectionism while learning from mistakes and thrive in challenging environments.

Key Takeaway

Leaders should encourage a culture of learning from mistakes and celebrate growth over immediate perfection. When their team embraces failure as not an endpoint, they will find stepping stones towards growth and achievement.

“Start with Why” by Simon Sinek

Sinek explores the Golden Circle, a framework for effective communication and leadership. Simon emphasizes on the importance of inspiring a team by starting with  “why” – about their purpose, cause, or belief – and then building their “what” and “how” around it. People don’t buy “what” you do, they buy “why” you do it.

 This TED talk is helpful for leaders to connect with their team on a deeper level and motivate them to pursue a shared vision.

Key Takeaways

 Leaders must be able to communicate their core purpose, cause, or belief first, then build their actions and methods around it. This way they will inspire deeper engagement and motivation with their team.

“3 Key Elements to Thriving Mentorship” by Janet Phan

In her famous TED Talk Janet Phan takes the aspect of the mentee. She emphasize on the importance mentorship for achieving the impossible for someone at the start of their career, or in need of developing the skills they don’t have. Mentorship helps bridge the gap between the current skills you have and what you want to achieve in the future. She gives three steps or elements to establish a thriving mentorship.

Key Takeaways

The first step is to overcome the fear of rejection and simply ask for the first meeting. Give it some time and wait for the mentor to accept you.

Then activate the relationship by adopting the coaching advice you receive and applying it in your work or career.

Finally, keep the relationship maintained by updating your mentor with simple texts or asking for suggestions.

“The Secret to Motivation” by Emily Esfahani Smith

Smith examines the power of human motivations beyond extrinsic rewards. Emily believes people are intrinsically motivated by purpose, autonomy and connection. This TED talk encourages leaders to work on these neglected elements within their teams, leading to increased engagement and self-direction.

Key Takeaways

For motivating a team, give them ownership, trust them to choose their path, and witness their self-driven passion.

“How to be a Great Mentor” by Kenneth Ortiz

In his over 14-minute-long TED Talk, Kenneth Ortiz gives tips on providing meaningful mentorship. He subtly says that mentorship requires significant time, investments, and thorough planning. Kenneth says all these efforts are worth it in the end. This is true not just for aspiring mentors but also for mentees who are looking for a mentor.

Key Takeaway

Leaders can listen to this TED Talk and get to improve their mentorship process. Giving time to a mentee and being patient is inevitable for becoming a successful mentor.

“Mentors: Through Research, in Practice, and on Reality-TV” by Kimberly Griffin

Kimberly Griffin defines mentorship and discusses the ways to avoid common mistakes during mentoring. But what does reality TV have to do with mentoring? She connects how watching reality shows taught her about mentoring and how a mentor in a reality show mentored the contestants brilliantly. Kimberly, an associate professor uses some uncommon examples to explain different approaches for mentoring.

Key Takeaways: 

Leaders should learn about the common mistakes that they can avoid during mentoring and build strong connections with mentees.

“Mentoring’s Broken: Here’s How to Hack It” by Roxanne Reeves

Roxanne explains how to fix the traditional mentorship style. She uses the anecdotes of how she became a mentorship expert from a college dropout. Roxanne argues that today, mentors should structure their thought process around their mentees as there is no rule of thumb in mentoring.  

Key Takeaway

Focus on the mentee. Flip the power structure of the mentor-mentee relationship. Diversify the style of your mentorship according to the transformed workforce that includes women, specially-abled individuals and people of determination.

Beyond the Talks

To truly leverage the insights from these TED Talks, action is key. Here are a few ways to mentor and motivate your team:

• Open Forum Discussions: Organize team discussions around specific TED Talks, encouraging reflection on key takeaways and their application to your team’s context.
• Mentorship Initiatives: Foster a culture of mentorship by pairing experienced team members with new recruits or creating peer-to-peer mentorship programs.
• Feedback Culture: Promote an open and respectful culture of feedback where constructive criticism is welcomed and used for growth.
• Embrace Experimentation: Encourage creative problem-solving and experimentation, celebrating failures as learning opportunities and stepping stones to success.
• Invest in Personal Development: Provide opportunities for team members to learn and grow through workshops, conferences, or access to educational resources.

What All These Ted Talks Want to Convey?

The Golden Circle: The Golden Circle framework (“Why” in the core, “What” next, and “How” outermost) represents the natural order of communication and leadership. Starting with “Why” ensures your message resonates deeply, connecting with the limbic brain where emotions and decisions reside.

Inspire Shared Vision: By sharing your “why” and helping team members discover their own, you create a shared sense of purpose and meaning. This manifests key factors such as unity, commitment, and motivation. All this works to achieve a common goal beyond individual tasks.

Speak to the Heart, not Just the Head: Effective leaders communicate clearly, but also emotionally. Share stories that connect with team members’, their values and strengthen bonds for overcoming any hurdle. 

Empower Your Team: Encourage team members to share their “why” and contribute their unique talents and perspectives. This will help them to take ownership of their work and role in the organization. Also, they will develop the skill of creativity, and a sense of belonging.

The Ultimate Takeaway for Mentoring and Motivating Your Team

By incorporating the powerful insights from these inspiring TED Talks and taking action to implement the idea behind them, you can create an inspiring team environment where your team members feel mentored and motivated. To fulfill the goals, they must be ready to perform using their full potential. Effective mentorship is an ongoing process, and these TED talks are valuable guides for those looking to build a productive team that is not only successful but also deeply connected and motivated. Remember, it is not about pushing, but pulling out the spark that already exists within!