My 3 Ideas for a TED Talk
Hello all Medium visitors! My name is Tiffany Chung and I am a junior at UC Berkeley studying CS. This story is for the tech entrepreneurship class that I am taking this semester as I embark on my journey to become a better leader.
The Prompt:
Detail 3 ideas you have for a TED Talk. Consider when writing: What do you want to speak about? What idea do you want to be known for as a thought leader? How does this tie into your leadership?
The Response:
Idea 1: Impact is not positional
I want to speak about how the impact someone make as a leader is not based on their position and how those not in explicit leadership positions are able to contribute positively in big ways. I want to emphasize how the titles or positions of people for instance“President” or “Lead” or “Senior Manager” should not automatically create an air of impact or influence. I can talk a bit about how my experiences in different organizations on campus have enabled me to see how the impact that people make is not tied to the position that you’re appointed with, and have enabled me to always reach beyond my designated role to positively impact and influence those around me.
Idea 2: The power of vulnerability
As a someone who leads with Gold Star excellence, I have been in many different positions of leadership and have experienced an internal struggle with showing vulnerability as a leader. I felt that showing vulnerability would weaken my impact as a leader to those who look up to me. However, through these same experiences, I have learned that vulnerability does not weaken me as a leader, but, in fact, makes me a more courageous and honest leader who has the ability to emphasize and connect with others. I want to touch upon how we should learn to embrace vulnerability — to not be embarrassed about making mistakes, for owning up to our own actions, and to finally accept that being imperfect is perfectly ok.
Idea 3: Inclusive leadership
I want to speak about how inclusive leadership is the future. We have all heard of the self-made man or how it all it takes is personal values of hard work and persistence, but rarely do we speak about how leaders don’t do it alone and gain success with the help from others. The future of successful businesses are inclusive leaders who know the importance of recognizing the contributions of others, even those other leaders might overlook. Moreover, inclusive leaders gain input from others to improve decisions, and those that contributed — even if they argued on another side — are more likely to act upon them. My experiences have made me believe in inclusive leadership and how this way of leadership can bring success to the whole group.
