10 TED Talks That Will Transform Your Career

Posted on March 17th, 2011
Even in a tough, highly competitive economy, there's a lot you can do to further your career. Whether you want to move up in the ranks at your current job or seek out your passion and find the success you've always dreamed of having by starting your own business, sometimes all you need is a little motivation to get you on the right path. These lectures from experts in a wide range of fields will do just that, offering guidance on everything from the true meaning of success to improving productivity to help you kick your career into high gear.

1. Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation: In this talk, career analyst Dan Pink talks about what really motivates us to get things done. Often, it's not the typical traditional rewards that we seek, a lesson you'll learn in this talk that can help make you a better manager and a better employee.
2. Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work: All work and no play is sure to make you a dull boy or girl, so how can you learn to strike the perfect balance between the two? In this talk, you'll hear from an expert in the field, Nigel Marsh, on what the ideal day would look like and ways that can happen at businesses around the world.
3. Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success: Your idea of success and failure might not be giving you the credit you deserve, as you'll learn in this lecture from Alain de Botton. He presents an idea of success that may just help you find more pleasure in your work and feel more rewarded in your career.
4. Tim Ferriss: Smash fear, learn anything: Author of The 4-Hour Work Week Tim Ferris offers up some productivity pointers and helps workers of all kinds face their fears– the only thing that may be holding them back– in this TED talk.
5. Clay Shirky: How cognitive surplus will change the world: Learn just what a cognitive surplus is and how we can use it to build a better world from this talk. It just might give you an idea for a new business or way of working that takes advantage of this pool of creative, innovative minds.
6. Jason Fried: Why work doesn't happen at work: Ever wonder why you can't seem to get anything done at work? This lecture will explain why it is that the office may not be the best place for productivity and showcases some changes that can help you become more productive and run a more efficient operation.
7. Diana Laufenberg: How to learn From mistakes: We might be reluctant to make mistakes, but as this lecture will show, sometimes mistakes are the best way to learn and move forward. Teacher Diana Laufenberg shares some powerful lessons she has learned from her mistakes that make her better at her job today.
8. Richard St. John's 8 secrets of success: What separates one person who succeeds from another who fails? This short slideshow and talk will showcase the qualities that help make for a successful career– boiled down to 8 words and 3 minutes that could change your life.
9. Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity: Author Elizabeth Gilbert discusses the idea of genius in this talk, arguing that instead of thinking about being a genius that, it's more important to think about having genius — something we all have moments of in our lives — and harnessing those to be more creative, successful and ultimately happy.
10. Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions?: How rational have your career decisions been? Were they motivated by logic or by emotions? In this talk you'll learn why we aren't as rational as we like to think we are — something that might open your eyes to new opportunities and ways to further your career.