Simon Sinek at TED: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

This weekend it’s TEDxSydney at Carriageworks. In the spirit of things, I have been watching a lot of talks at www.ted.com. It’s one of the great sites on the superhighway where big thinkers, wacky creatives and bold humans share ideas that push you to re-think the way you live and the ways you do what you do.

The talk above by Simon Sinek, more than any, is incredible food for thought. Why do you do what you do? Why do I do what I do? There are a million things you could spend your life doing. Why this? Why do I tell stories for children? Why not adults? (Children’s authors always get asked in sessions at writer’s festivals if we’re just warming up to write an adult book.) Why not make films? Why not act? Why not go and work for a charity or a cause I believe in and make what might be a more tangible impact on people’s lives?

The surface response is that I can making a living out of being creative and turning my own experiences into stories for kids. But is there something more?

The thing that I’ve discovered really gives my work meaning is inspiring others to create. When I go to schools and make up a story with a group of kids or when I set them ten minutes to write like fiends and the room is still with that silent, palpable force of forty people creating, THAT is when I feel that I know why I do what I do.

I believe that Creativity, in and of itself, is worth fighting for and sharing and investing in. That’s why I  create and why I want to inspire others to do so. And, through those creations, we can try to comment on something about humans and our world, the way things are. That’s it.

Here’s my top five current Ted Talks
1. Simon Sinek – How great leaders inspire action
2. Ric Elias – Three things I Learned While My Plane Crashed
3. Bob Thurman – We Can Be Buddhas
4. Mike Matas – A Next-Generation Digital Book
5. Elizabeth Gilbert – Nurturing Creativity (Not new but an all-time fave.)

www.tristanbancks.com