Inspirational speaker Simon Sinek’s TED Talk ranks number one in views among all leadership presentations.
The online video of Sinek’s How Great Leaders Inspire Action has attracted 59,331,346 views, more than any other TED talk as of June 14, 2022. In the talk, first recorded in 2009, Sinek explores his concept of the Golden Circle—what he calls “a naturally occurring pattern” that explains why certain people and organizations inspire us over others.
The author and speaker uses well-known examples such as Apple Computer, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright brothers to explain the pattern. He argues that many of the most successful companies think beyond the practical, rational benefits of the products and services they offer to get to the core of their appeal.
Sinek explains that the golden circle has three parts: What, How, and Why. The outer What section is the most comfortable place for leaders to speak. The next layer is the How. The last layer is the Why—here, Sinek suggests, is the most transformational and powerful place to speak, as it is the place of purpose and passion, where speakers explain why they do what they do.
Sinek is a popular author and motivational speaker. His second of five books titled Leaders Eat Last was featured on the best selling lists of both The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He is a trained ethnographer, who observes the culture of a particular society or group, and has spent his time studying the patterns of how the greatest leaders and organizations think, act, and communicate.
His talk titled Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe was ranked third most popular TED talk, with 17,163,083 views.
Professional workspace provider Firmspace researched data from the official TED website to create a list of the top 10 most popular TED talks that feature lessons in leadership. Others in the top 10 include Wharton professor Adam Grant with 20 million views, former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg with 17 million, Derek Shiver with nearly 10 million, actor and filmmaker Justin Baldoni with 8 million, philosopher and podcaster Julia Galef with 7 million, and venture capitalist John Doerr with 7 million.