Being a business leader at any level is no piece of cake: It comes with a lot of challenges and responsibilities. Learning and getting inspiration from the best project management experts brings you new ideas for multi-project management and helps you overcome everyday challenges. Our editorial team has prepared a list of TED Talks for you to learn how to be a better manager and help your team rock.
Elizabeth Lyle: How to break bad management habits before they reach the next generation of leaders
In this TED Talk, Elizabeth Lyle discusses some bad management habits that lower employee performance and discourage people from being proactive. One of the habits that Lyle emphasizes is individualistic thinking. This type of thinking makes C-levels and PMs believe their opinions and judgments are always better than those of their employees. Lyle shows how important it is to ditch the individualism and take your leadership game to the next level.
Patty McCord: 8 lessons on building a company people enjoy working for
In this talk, Patty McCord discusses some project management tips to effectively manage and lead teams. McCord explains that it’s rather unreasonable for project leaders to expect high performance every day, since employees are adults who have their problems and hard days. Furthermore, she highlights the fact that the job of a real manager is not really to control people but to build great teams that secure customer satisfaction. For more insights, take a look at the TED Talk.
Tim Harford: A powerful way to unleash your natural creativity
Tim Harford talks about the benefit of creativity: it helps people come up with project solutions. C-levels and PMs often need to find alternative solutions to deal with bottlenecks. Watching this TED Talk can give you pointers on finding such solutions. According to Harford, creativity is very useful in management. In order to find the “right answer,” you need to forget the “wrong answer,” which is possible if you consider multi-tasking in slow motion.
Amy Cuddy: Your body language may shape who you are
Amy Cuddy gives helpful ideas on how to use body language to improve leadership performance and success in life. According to this scientist, your body language shapes who you are. Cuddy inspires her listeners to use body language as a means of employee empowerment rather than oppression. She also shares some insights on the way your body language impacts how people see you, which is crucial for anyone in a leadership position.
Chieh Huang: Confessions of a recovering micromanager
Chieh Huang talks about his experience starting a successful company and making a massive business mistake: trying to micromanage his employees. According to Huang, micromanagement kills motivation and discourages people by exercising obsessive control over things that hold little importance. What’s more, Huang highlights that PMs should let people learn from their failures and recognize them as milestones on the way to project success. There’s only one solution to the problem of micromanagement — trust.
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