TED on Sunday: Seth Godin on Leadership

We are at an inflection point with respect to the way ideas are created and spread, argues marketing guru Seth Godin in this fast-paced talk. Thanks to the Internet and "personalized" mass media, society has benefited from an explosion of "tribes" -- communities of like-minded, geographically separated people -- and the emergence of such tribes has in turn changed the nature of leadership. People "join" tribes not because they need to (the mass industrialization model) or are persuaded to (the advertising model), but because they want to. In such an environment, leadership is not about commanding others; it's about finding a group that has a yearning and motivating the group to follow. The days of the "sheepwalker" are over, says Godin. Today, every individual can lead and do his or her bit to change the world. So what are you waiting for? (Filmed: February 2009; Running time: 17:23)

Liked this talk? Try one of these:

• Barry Schwartz on the Paradox of Choice
• Alex Tabarrok on the Benefits of Globalization
• Majora Carter on Environmental Justice
• Al Gore on Climate Change
• Sylvia Earle on Saving the 'Blue Heart' of the Planet
• James Howard Kunstler on the Death of Suburbia
• Clay Shirky on Epochal Change
• Mark Bittman on How We Eat
• Hans Rosling on the Dimensions of Development
• Sir Ken Robinson on Education and Creativity

-- Mitch Nauffts