So, ladies and gentlemen, at TED, we talk a lot about leadership and how to make a movement. So let’s watch a movement happens. Start to finish in under three minutes and excerpts a lesson (dissect some lessons) from it.
First, of course, you know a leader needs guts to stand out and be ridiculed. A…he, but what he is doing is easy to follow.
So here is the first follower with crucial role, he is going to show everyone else how to follow.
Now notices the leader embraces him in as an equal. Now it is not about leader anymore, it is about them, plural.
Now there is a calling to his friends.
Then if you notice the first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself: takes guts just stand up like that.
The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.
(Laugh from crowd)
And here comes the second follower. Now it is not lone nut, it is not two nuts, three is a crowd and a crowd is news.
So movement must be in public. It is important to show not just leader, but followers. Because you find new followers emulate followers, not the leader.
And here comes two more people, and immediately after… three more people. Now we got a momentum!
This is the tipping point, now we’ve got a movement. (speaker laugh)
So…notice as more people joining in, it is less risky.
So those (who) were sitting on the fence before now have no reason not to: they won’t stand out, they won’t be ridiculed, but they will be a part in crowd if they hurry.
So… (laugh)
Over the next minute, you will see all of the…those prefer sticks to the crowd, because eventually they will be ridiculed for not joining in.
And that is how you make a movement.
But let’s recapitulate a lesson from this: so… thirst, if you a type like shirtless dancing guy that is standing alone, remember the importance of nurturing your first few followers as equals. So it is clearly about movement, not you.
(Laugh)
Ok… remind Mr Real Lesson (but we might have missed the real lesson), the biggest lesson if you’ve noticed, did you catch it? It is leadership is over-glorified. The YES is shirtless guy was first and he will get all the credit. But it was really the first follower that transformed the lone nut into a leader. So it was totalish (as we were told that we should) all be leaders, it would be really ineffective.
If you really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow. And when you find some lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first one to stand up and join in and what a perfect place to do that? The (at) TED. Thanks.