Podcast: Leadership
A Simple Way to Inspire Your Team — David Burkus
March 18, 2024
Using paychecks, perks and carefully worded mission statements plastered on posters, companies are on a never-ending quest to find what drives morale at work. An underappreciated solution lies in the answer to one simple question, says management researcher David Burkus. With notable examples backed by decades of success, he presents a clear path to inspiring your team — and finding your purpose at work. After the talk, Modupe reveals how she motivates herself.
Democracy Works -- We Just Need Better Leaders — Lindiwe Mazibuko
March 4, 2024
South Africa transitioned to democracy in the 1990s with a visionary constitution, but the promises of that constitution are largely unfulfilled to this day. Public leader Lindiwe Mazibuko explores how poor leadership failed to deliver a better life for the country’s citizens — and shares her mission to cultivate a new generation of ethical leaders who can revitalize democracy in South Africa and beyond. After the talk, Modupe shares her hopes for US democracy.
What’s Your Leadership Language? — Rosita Najmi
January 29, 2024
In a globe-trotting career that has spanned corporations, governments, nonprofits and philanthropy, Rosita Najmi has often found herself translating among them. Instead of focusing on leadership style, she makes the case for becoming fluent in the languages of leadership, explaining how it can help you adapt to audiences across industries and collectively achieve your goals. After the talk, Modupe shares tips on being a successful communicator.
The Secret Ingredients of Great Hospitality — Will Guidara
November 27, 2023
Restaurateur Will Guidara’s life changed when he decided to serve a two-dollar hot dog in his Michelin-rated restaurant, creating a personalized experience for some out-of-town customers craving authentic New York City street food. The move earned such a positive reaction that Guidara began pursuing “unreasonable hospitality” full-time, seeking out ways to create extraordinary experiences and give people more than they expect. In this funny and heartwarming talk, he shares three steps to crafting truly memorable moments centered in human connection — no matter what business you’re in. After the talk, Modupe shares a collaboration-sparking activity to help you connect with the people you work with.
5 Steps to Building a Personal Brand You Feel Good About — Marcos Salazar
October 23, 2023
Whether you realize it or not, you have a personal brand, says social entrepreneur Marcos Salazar — and you have the power to shape what it is. Here’s how you can create a brand that captures who you are, who you’d like to be and how you want to make an impact on the world. This episode is part of the Way We Work, a TED original video series. Then Modupe shares how she’s crafted her own online identity in a way that feels authentic.
A 3-Step Guide to Believing in Yourself — Sheryl Lee Ralph
August 28, 2023
Sheryl Lee Ralph is a force, delivering iconic performances both on stage and screen. But she didn’t always know if she’d make it big. In a lively talk sparkling with actionable advice, she shares how her struggles taught her what it takes to believe in herself — and how we can all find the self-confidence to keep moving forward. After the talk, Modupe shares some tools that you can use to encourage yourself and those around you.
5 Steps to Fix Any Problem at Work — Anne Morriss
August 21, 2023
In a practical, playful talk, leadership visionary Anne Morriss reinvents the playbook for how to lead through change — with a radical, one-week plan to build trust and fix problems by following a step per day. After the talk, Modupe shares tips on how to communicate in a way that empowers others to become problem solvers.
How Great Leaders Take on Uncertainty — Anjali Sud and Stephanie Mehta
May 22, 2023
In a constantly changing world, it’s impossible for leaders to provide employees with the assurance they want, says Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud. Her solution: lead with humanity and flexibility. In conversation with veteran journalist Stephanie Mehta, Sud discusses her experience connecting remote employees worldwide, addressing burnout and adapting company practices for the needs of the next generation. After the talk, Modupe shares some tips on embracing the unknown at work — and practical advice on how to handle Q&As as a leader.
The One Question Every Aspiring Leader Needs to Ask — Constance Hockaday
May 8, 2023
Artist and TED Fellow Constance Hockaday shares how the captain of a trans-Atlantic community raft taught her how to voice her hopes and desires, inspiring a vision of possibility for the future. The question from the trip that stuck with her changed everything: What does inclusive leadership look like? Hockaday calls for mentors and aspiring leaders everywhere to answer that crucial question to unlock their agency and power. After the talk, Modupe shares a framework for achieving goals — both at work and in your personal life.
We Need Leaders Who Boldly Champion Inclusion — June Sarpong
March 27, 2023
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) boost creativity and profits, but progress has been slow: Today, nearly 90 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are white males. It's time for leaders to become “rock stars” of inclusion — and that starts with pushing through discomfort says veteran broadcaster and diversity leader June Sarpong. “When it comes to diversity and inclusion, we need bold disruptors who are uncomfortable with the status quo, even if the status quo benefits them,” Sarpong says. After the talk, Modupe highlights proven strategies that increase representation and inclusion in the workplace.
You Don’t Actually Know What Your Future Self Wants — Shankar Vendantam
January 30, 2023
“You are constantly becoming a new person,” says journalist Shankar Vendantam. In a talk full of beautiful storytelling, he explains the profound impact of something he calls the “illusion of continuity” — the belief that our future selves will share the same views, perspectives and hopes as our current selves — and shows how we can more proactively craft the people we are to become. Stay tuned after the talk as Modupe shares a clear-eyed and empowering perspective on your future self’s feelings.
How to Lead in the New Era of Employee Activism — Megan Reitz
November 14, 2022
What does it mean to lead in this new age of employee activism? Megan Reitz offers a four-point crash course on what employees want from their organizations and how leaders can rise to the challenge of building proactive and productive workplaces where every voice and perspective has the chance to make a difference. After the talk, Modupe shares lessons for leaders — from activists.
7 Tools for Building a Business People Trust — Marcos Aguiar
October 24, 2022
Why do we trust some companies and not others? Using real-world examples, digital trust advisor Marcos Aguiar decodes this make-or-break quality — and offers seven tools to help leaders design a foundation of trust into their business ecosystems in order to achieve long-term success. After the talk, Modupe shares how to weave trust-building tools into company culture (even after damage has been done).
The Rigged Test of Leadership — Sophie Williams
July 11, 2022
The glass cliff: an experience of taking on a leadership role only to find that your chances of success have been limited before you’ve even begun. Equality activist Sophie Williams explores the research-backed reasons behind this workplace phenomenon and how it overwhelmingly affects underrepresented groups, despite a facade of progress and inclusion. Learn more about the biases and behaviors that set people up for failure — and what can be done to make the path to success in leadership better for everyone. Join our host Modupe Akinola after the talk for tips on how to recognize people’s full potential — so everyone has a fair chance to shine at work.
How Great Leaders Innovate -- Responsibly — Ken Chenault
May 23, 2022
In times of uncertainty, leaders have a responsibility to inspire hope. Sharing hard-won wisdom, business leader Ken Chenault talks about what it takes to enact positive, enduring change — and why it’s more important than ever to invest in responsible innovation that uplifts people and centers equality and fairness.
Why Great Leaders Take Humor Seriously — Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas
March 21, 2022
There’s a mistaken belief in today’s working world that leaders need to be serious all the time to be taken seriously. The research tells a different story. Based on the course they teach at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, behavioral scientist Jennifer Aaker and corporate strategist Naomi Bagdonas delve into the surprising power of humor: why it’s a secret weapon to build bonds, power, creativity and resilience — and how we can all have more of it.
3 Tips for Leaders to Get the Future of Work Right — Debbie Lovich
February 14, 2022
Work that’s dictated by a fixed schedule, place and job description doesn’t make sense anymore, says leadership expert Debbie Lovich. In light of the cultural shift towards remote work sparked by the pandemic, Lovich gives three essential tips to leaders so employees can keep their autonomy (while remaining productive), companies can let go of rigid bureaucracy and we can all reshape work to better fit our lives. After the talk, Modupe explores the benefits and downsides of attending meetings remotely.
Dignity Isn’t a Privilege, It’s a Worker’s Right — Abigail Disney
September 13, 2021
What’s the purpose of a company? In this bold talk, activist and filmmaker Abigail Disney imagines a world where companies have a moral obligation to place their workers above shareholders, calling on Disney (and all corporations) to offer respect, dignity and a living wage to everyone who works for them. After the talk, Modupe offers ideas for CEOS on how they can work collectively to treat workers better.
The Anti-CEO Playbook — Hamdi Ulukaya
May 3, 2021
Profit, money, shareholders: these are the priorities of most companies today. But at what cost? In an appeal to corporate leaders worldwide, Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya calls for an end to the business playbook of the past — and shares his vision for a new, “anti-CEO playbook” that prioritizes people over profits. “This is the difference between profit and true wealth,” he says. After the talk, Modupe offers some simple practices that can help leaders realize this vision, by putting people back at the center of a CEO’s workday.
Treat Employees Like Adults — Patty Mccord
April 19, 2021
The pandemic showed HR consultant Patty McCord something she has been espousing for years: workers are adults, with responsibilities and obligations. It seems obvious, yet at work, so many people are treated like children: too much oversight, micromanaged, with rules that get in the way of performance, rather than enhance it. But before you go set everyone free, how do you separate the rules that liberate from the ones that constrain? In this episode, hosts Corey Hajim and Modupe Akinola wrestle with this question. Hang on till the end, for a never-before-heard framework that helps you make sense of which rules to keep and which to let go.
The Foundations of Confidence — Brittany Packnett
January 11, 2021
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.
How to Lead in a Crisis — Amy C. Edmondson
December 7, 2020
How do you lead in times of absolute upheaval, when you can’t predict what change could come tomorrow? With humility, transparency, and urgency, says leadership researcher Amy C. Edmondson, because these are the ingredients that make a workplace psychologically safe. After the talk, host Modupe Akinola breaks down how Amy’s concept can help employees build safer, more resilient workplaces—with or without support from the boss.
How Can We Actually Pay People Enough — PayPal CEO Dan Schulman
November 23, 2020
Capitalism urgently needs an upgrade, says PayPal CEO Dan Schulman, and it starts with paying people enough to actually invest in their futures. He explains the epiphany that led PayPal to create a whole new metric for adequate pay, Net Disposable Income, and why investing in employees’ financial health is just good business. After the talk, host Modupe Akinola makes the case for going one step further and considering how fair pay might actually mean something pretty different for every employee.
Confessions of a Recovering Micromanager — Chieh Huang
November 16, 2020
“If we know that micromanagement isn’t really effective, why do we do it?” asks Boxed.com founder Chieh Huang. In a funny talk packed with wisdom and humility, Huang shares the cure for micromanagement—which is also a prescription for innovation and happiness at work. Host Modupe Akinola explains how freedom from excessive scrutiny even benefits us biologically.
How to Build (and Rebuild) Trust — Frances Frei
November 9, 2020
Trust is the foundation for everything we do. So what do we do when it’s broken? Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei gives a crash course on the three essential components of trust, and how to build them—a process she put to use during a stint at Uber. Plus host Modupe Akinola explains how to apply those principles of trust with Black colleagues and others in the minority.
Why the Strongest Leaders Ask for Help — Lorna Davis
October 12, 2020
When confronting huge challenges, sometimes the greatest strength a leader can show is to admit uncertainty. Former Danone North America CEO Lorna Davis learned that the hard way, then discovered the power of publicly committing to big, bold goals—and then inviting others to help her meet them. Host Modupe Akinola shares the benefit of being a collaborative leader—no matter where you are in your career.