Confidence. We talk about it all the time. We know it matters. And still, educator and activist Brittany Packnett thinks we underestimate it. "Confidence,” she says, “is the necessary spark before everything that follows.” In this talk, Brittany identifies the three basic elements of this elusive force, which can be especially valuable for people whose role models don’t look like them. After the talk, Modupe shares one more technique that has propelled her year after year at work. Spiderman makes a brief appearance.

Today, an episode from WorkLife with Adam Grant, another TED podcast. Many workplaces have become increasingly lonely, even before the coronavirus pandemic made more of us literally remote. It’s not just an unpleasant feeling—loneliness can hurt our health and our job performance. Find out why it's time for happy hours to finally die—and how it might take less than a minute to start building real connections. Subscribe to WorkLife wherever you're listening to this.

"Today we're sharing an episode from another TED podcast: ZigZag, hosted by Manoush Zomorodi. In 2018, Backstage Capital's Arlan Hamilton was on the cover of Fast Company magazine. The headline was irresistible: homeless, gay, Black woman becomes hot-shot Silicon Valley investor. But the reality is that Black female founders still get token amounts of funding, despite being the fastest growing demographic in the startup world. On this episode, Arlan reflects on whether she's improved the plight of “underestimated and underrepresented” founders and how she explains privilege to white, male investors who don't understand the point of her investment fund. Plus, Manoush's daughter weighs in on entrepreneurship. Subscribe to ZigZag wherever you're listening to this. "

This year we’ve heard a lot of companies step up—or at least, say they’re stepping up—and making diversity a priority. But what does it mean to truly build an inclusive workplace? In this interview from TED@BCG, Starbucks COO Rosalind G. Brewer lays out how to bring change to companies from the grassroots, by focusing not on metrics, but relationships. In a candid conversation, she shares Starbucks’ missteps over the years and how they addressed their own failings. The lessons aren’t just for the office, but for our own communities and families.

Athletes train their bodies to run faster, jump higher, throw farther. So why don't they train their minds, too? Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, the highest paid player in the NFL, shares how “neutral thinking” helps him handle high pressure situations, on and off the field. After the talk, host Modupe Akinola examines how we can use stress to our advantage.

Learn how to lead in times of uncertainty and upheaval with humility, transparency, and urgency to create a psychologically safe workplace. Explore essential leadership qualities during crises and the significance of swift decision-making. Discover practical strategies for employees to cultivate psychological safety through open communication and genuine interest in their colleagues' viewpoints.

Our brains create categories to make sense of the world, recognize patterns and make quick decisions. But this ability to categorize also exacts a heavy toll when it comes to unconscious bias. In this powerful talk, psychologist Jennifer L. Eberhardt explores how our biases unfairly target Black people at all levels of society — from schools and social media to policing and criminal justice — and discusses how creating points of friction can help us actively interrupt and address this troubling problem. After the talk, host Modupe Akinola gives us tools and tactics to counteract bias when it comes to giving feedback at work.

Capitalism urgently needs an upgrade, says PayPal CEO Dan Schulman, and it starts with paying people enough to actually invest in their futures. He explains the epiphany that led PayPal to create a whole new metric for adequate pay, Net Disposable Income, and why investing in employees' financial health is just good business. After the talk, host Modupe Akinola makes the case for going one step further and considering how fair pay might actually mean something pretty different for every employee.

"If we know that micromanagement isn't really effective, why do we do it?" asks Boxed.com founder Chieh Huang. In a funny talk packed with wisdom and humility, Huang shares the cure for micromanagement — which is also a prescription for innovation and happiness at work. Host Modupe Akinola explains how freedom from excessive scrutiny even benefits us biologically.

Trust is the foundation for everything we do. So what do we do when it's broken? Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei gives a crash course on the three essential components of trust, and how to build them — a process she put to use during a stint at Uber. Plus host Modupe Akinola explains how to apply those principles of trust with Black colleagues and others in the minority.