This is the first post in a series that will highlight inspirational talks from TED. Curators Betsy Quinn and Sarah Unger, who attended the TEDActive conference this year on behalf of Ketchum, identify some TED highlights for you to watch.
When research professor Brené Brown gave her first TEDTalk in 2010 on “The Power of Vulnerability,” it received more than 4.2 million views. The University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work professor was back at TED this year with a follow-up talk about her 10 years studying “wholeheartedness,” which involves striking a fine balance between vulnerability, courage, authenticity and shame.
You might want to listen to both talks for a fuller appreciation of why she believes our vulnerabilities aren’t weaknesses, but rather our most accurate measures of courage. In fact, she believes that vulnerability can be the birthplace of personal creativity, innovation and change – we need to “lean into discomfort” because “when we numb the dark, we numb the light.”
So go ahead, take a risk and be vulnerable to some of her novel ideas. Learning how to embrace imperfection could be worth a year of therapy!
