7 / 31
5
as a power of relation, as an instrument to achieve goals…” this definition also pairs with what TED is doing
(Bass 38).
As Bass points out, the history of leadership has evolved and changed as times and culture have changed
(Bass 37). But TED is a leader, albeit not a standard leader, from its goal, to a course of action, to its
followers, TED take the hundreds of definitions of leadership and presents a blended definition. The picture
that TED paints as a leader is a composite of servant leadership and transformational leadership with strong
qualities of authoritative leadership.
A servant leader is defined as a leader who is responsible for the followers, and a leader who has a
responsibility towards society and those who are disadvantaged, a leader who builds trusting relationships as
the platform for collaboration and service (Leadership). TED as the framework for the followers has built a
climate of serving the community, which can be seen in the change that comes from the TED Prize, and the
power the followers receive from TEDx. Through the TED Prize, TED enables an individual to think beyond
themselves, and instead focus on one wish for the world to fulfil a dream of improving the world. Servant
leadership is the belief that a leader has that emerges from a primary motivation and a deep desire to help
others. In the words of Neil Turok, the 2008 TED Prize winner, the “intention of the talk is to bring up an
idea which in time will change the world” (TED video). Turok’s initiative African Institute for Mathematical
Sciences (AIMS) looks to recruit diverse students across Africa by establishing a network between centers of
excellence to teach a math and science curriculum (TED). He sums up his wish as, “My wish is that you help
us unlock and nurture scientific talent across Africa, so that within our lifetime we are celebrating an African
Einstein” (TED).
The use of servant leadership implemented by TED can also be seen in the leadership used by Roy
Vagelos found in Michael Unseem’s book, The Leadership Moment. In the case of Roy Vagelos, Vagelos was
faced with the challenge of giving free access to a life-saving drug, or of creating the profit that was due to
the company’s stockholders (Unseem 29). Vagelos and TED have parallels in the servant leadership both
provide to the greater community, when both choose to think beyond themselves and follow the desire
to better the whole of society. As well as servant leadership, TED is a transformational leader because it
engages the speaker and the audience into a higher level of motivation and morality (Burns 101). This
can be seen in the power TED talks have in creating an outlet for societal education and change simply
through ideas that engage audiences to think beyond themselves. With TEDx, TED is creating a blueprint
for communities to recreate the phenomenon that is TED in their local communities. And in turn TED is
entrusting their personal integrity and vision to the public. And lastly the TED Prize gives a follower (the
speaker) the outright power to improve the world through their idea. TED is a transformational because to
the TED Prize winners, TED is creating an uplifting experience that is infused with passion and energy. And
TED cares about the greater global community enough to give one million dollars to a recipient to improve
the world (Leadership). In this case the followers, the speakers, the audiences, and the millions of views
are the product of the transformation (Leadership). In his definition of transformational leadership, James
MacGregor Burns states:
Transforming leadership ultimately becomes moral in that it raises the level of human conduct
and ethical aspirations of both leader and led, and thus has a transforming effect on both…transcending
leadership is dynamic leadership in the sense that leaders throw themselves into a relationship
withfollowers who will feel elevated by it and often become more active themselves, thereby creating new
cadres of leaders. (101)
This definition highlights how TED takes servant leadership farther to transformational leadership. Not
only is TED engaging the followers in service TED is engaging the followers in an elevated plane of thinking,
and challenging the followers through TED Talks, TEDx, and the TED Prize to become active leaders for
themselves, for their communities, and for the world.
Although TED’s leadership is mainly a combination of servant and transformational, TED also has
qualities from authoritative. For authoritative leadership, in his article Leadership That Gets Results, Daniel
Goleman defines an authoritative leader as being very vison orientated (83). The authoritative leader
maximizes commitment to the organization’s goals and strategy, they give people the freedom to innovate,
experiment, and take calculated risks, and they chart new courses that can be sold as a long-term vision
(Goleman 84). This applies to TED through TED’s initiatives, ripple effect of those initiatives, and their
continued vision of “Ideas Worth Spreading” as the core of their leadership.
As Martin Luther King Jr. had his followers who were seeking Civil Rights, TED has their speakers,
audience members, and viewers who fulfil the role of follower. While the followers of TED play an atypical
role, they are all united under the passion for knowledge and thus able to support as followers for TED
through their shared investment with TED’s mission of spreading ideas. TED is essentially harnessing the
potential of the followers and directing that potential towards ideas worth spreading. By maneuvering the
followers, the leadership of TED is