TED Talk Tuesday: How Great Leaders Inspire Action
If you get anything done today, watch this talk. Today’s TED Talk was my inspiration for originally starting TED Talk Tuesday. It’s one of the most popular TED talks of ALL-TIME and is an absolute must-see for any business leader or dreamer.
Seriously, if you have never seen nor heard of this video, here’s your chance to fix your erroneous neglect. Key takeaways at the bottom.
Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action
Lessons Learned:
This talk is all about the power of WHY. Why do you do what you do? Why are you in business?
To relate the video to ecommerce, people are more likely to buy your products if you give them a belief to purchase, rather than a mere product that can be found elsewhere. So what does that even mean? Your Why may be the reason you started a business in the first place, or it may have became more clear after you got your foot in the door. At the end of the day, it’s why your marketing works, it’s why you hear industry people spout hot words like “customer engagement” or “unique selling proposition,” and most importantly, it’s how your business can distinguish itself from the white noise.
Your Why is your organization’s higher purpose.
In a quickly developing ecommerce industry, you have thousands of retailers that sell the same exact products. Sure, you can differentiate your business by ranking higher on SERPs or having stalking retargeting campaigns, but a Why is a much more profound inspiration for action (buying).
A shoe retailer with the goal of providing the best customer service on the planet is more appealing than one that conveys no unique vision.
An apparel retailer who donates some profits to clothe those in need offers a much more rewarding shopping experience than another who sells just a unique style.
An inspiring Why is the reason companies like Tom’s Shoes, Apple, and Nike are household names.
Defining your Why, making it clear to the rest of your company, and expressing it are crucial steps for any business. It’s internally enriching. By this, I mean it makes your business operations and day-to-day dilemmas much more simple to work through. All of your interactions with clients or partners, marketing campaigns, or business development activities will be focused on achieving one, highly transparent goal. It’s also externally enriching through branding and coupling the sale of your products with a belief, message, or experience.
Ultimately, coining your Why will never be as seamless as Apple’s “Think Different” or Nike’s “Just Do It”. You may not even know why you do what you do after weeks of introspection. Who knows, it might just be that you truly care about your customers and you just want the best shopping experience for them. Whatever it may be, make your brand reek of your Why.
At the end of the day, just thinking about a Why is a healthy experience. You’ll end up finding more meaning in everything you do for your business and even your family and, if you’re like me, you’ll walk into work with that much more purpose and satisfaction.
In case you missed our previous TED Talk Tuesdays, check them out below:
- Seth Godin: This is Broken
- Adam Leipzig: How to Know Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes
- Steve Jobs: How to Live Before You Die
- Mike Barwis: Find Your Catalyst
- Gary Vaynerchuk: Do What You Love (No Excuses!)
- Ric Elias: 3 Things I Learned While My Plane Crashed
- Nilofer Merchant: Got a Meeting? Take a Walk
- Rory Sutherland: Life Lessons From An Ad Man
- Richard St. John: 8 Secrets of Success
- Matt Cutts: Try Something New For 30 Days
- Arianna Huffington: How to Succeed? Get More Sleep
- Dan Cobley: What Physics Taught Me About Marketing
- Sergey Brin: Why Google Glass?
- Jason Fried: Why Work Doesn’t Happen At Work
- Adam Garone: Healther Men, One Moustache At a Time
- Ed Gavagan: A Story About Knots and Surgeons
Want to check out more awesome TED talks? Stop by our Best TED Talks for Online Business Owners resource.
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