TED Talk >> Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action?
Video 4: How Leaders Inspire Us 4
So let me give you a famous example, a famous failure and a famous success of the law of diffusion of innovation.
First, the famous failure.
It's a commercial example.
As we said before seconds ago, the recipe for success is money and the right people and the right market conditions. You should have success then.
Look at TiVo.
From the time TiVo came out about eight or nine years ago to this current day.
They are the single highest-quality product on the market, hands down, there is no dispute.
They were extremely well-funded. Market conditions were fantastic.
I mean, we use TiVo as verb.
I TiVo stuff on my piece-of-junk Time Warner DVR all the time.
But TiVo's a commercial failure.
They've never made money.
And when they went IPO, their stock was at about 30 or 40 dollars and then plummeted, and it's never traded above 10.
In fact, I don't think it's even traded above six, except for a couple of little spikes.
Because you see, when TiVo launched their product, they told us all what they had.
They said, "We have aproductthat pauses live TV, skipscommercials, rewinds live TV and memorizes you rviewing habits without you even asking."
And the cynical majority said
"We don't believe you. We don't need it. We don't like it. You're scaring us."
What if they had said
"If you're the kind of person who likes to have total control over every aspect of your life, boy, do we have a product for you.
It pauses live TV, skips commercials, memorizes your viewing habits, etc., etc."
People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it, and what you do simply serves as the proof of what you believe.
Exercises:
1. Why was TiVo a commercial failure?
> They failed to show purpose behind their products.
2. Why was the 2nd TiVo commercial effective?
> It convinced people that the product was made to improve their lives.
3. In what way just the story of TiVo contradicted common believe?
> They sold poorly despite having the best product.
4. If someone is cynical, they don't believe that people are honest or good.
5. When a stock price plummets, it falls quickly and suddenly.
Put the sentences below in order:
(1) In fact, I don't think it's even traded above six, except for a couple of little spikes.
(2) They've never made money.
(3) TiVo's a commercial failure.
(4) And when they went IPO, their stock was at about 30 or 40 dollars and then plummeted, and it's never traded above 10.
Correct Order: (3) (2) (4) (1)
Now let me give you a successful example of the law of diffusion of innovation.
In the summer of 1963, 250,000 people showed up on the mall in Washington to hear Dr. King speak.
They sent out no invitations, and there was no website to check the date.
How do you do that?
Well, Dr. King wasn't the only man in America who was a great orator.
He wasn't the only man in America who suffered in a pre-civil rights America.
In fact, some of his ideas were bad.
But he had a gift.
He didn't go around telling people what needed to change in America.
He went around and told people what he believed.
"I believe, I believe, I believe," he told people.
And people who believed what he believed took his cause, and they made it their own, and they told people.
And some of those people created structures to get the word out to even more people.
And lo and behold, 250,000 people showed up on the right day at the right time to hear him speak.
How many of them showed up for him?
Zero. They showed up for themselves.
It's what they believed about America that got them to travel in a bus for eight hours to stand in the sun in Washington in the middle of August.
It's what they believed, and it wasn't about black versus white: 25% of the audience was white.
Dr. King believed that there are two types of laws in this world.
Those that are made by a higher authority and those that are made by men.
And notuntil all the laws that are made by men areconsistentwith the laws made by the higherauthoritywill we live in ajust world.
It just so happened that the Civil Rights Movement was the perfect thing to help him bring his cause to life.
We followed, not him, not for him, but for ourselves.
By the way, he gave the "I have a dream" speech, not the "I have a plan" speech.
Listen to politicians now, with their comprehensive 12-point plans. They're not inspiring anybody.
Because there are leaders and there are those who lead.
Leaders hold a position of power or authority, but those who lead inspire us.
Whether they're individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead, not because we have to, but because we want to.
We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves.
And it's those who start with "why" that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them.
Thank you very much.
Questions:
1. Why did Sinek say that none of the people there showed up to see Dr. King?
> They showed up for their own sake, not for Dr. King himself.
2. According to Sinek, why are some of today's politicians not inspiring?
> They only talk about plans, not beliefs.
3. How did Martin Luther King get 250,000 people to listen to him?
> He inspired people by telling them what he believes.
Fill in the blanks:
It's those who start with "why" that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them.
Put the sentences below in order:
懂你英语Level 7 Unit 1 Part 2【Video 4: How Leaders Inspire Us】
(1) He went around and told people what he believed.
(2) But he had a gift. He didn't go around telling people what needed to change in America.
(3) Dr. King wasn't the only man in America who suffered in a pre-civil rights America.
(4) In fact, some of his ideas were bad.
Correct Order: (3) (4) (2) (1)
Repeat & Read Sentences:
1. Dr. King went around and told people what he believed.
懂你英语Level 7 Unit 1 Part 2【Video 4: How Leaders Inspire Us】
2. We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves.
3. It's what they believed about America that got them to travel in a bus for eight hours to stand in the sun in Washington in the middle of August.
4. Those who start with "why" that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them.
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