At ExecutiveDNA, we love a good TED Talk. Here are our top 4 talks to get the career ball rolling; potentially in a direction you were not expecting...

Want to be more productive? 

Have you ever experienced an unproductive morning, day or week? At some point, we are guessing yes! This is an informative and funny talk by psychologist Shawn Achor presents the idea that it is actually happiness that inspires us to be more productive at work and in life. He is the CEO of Good Think Inc and author of The Happiness Advantage. 

What makes work personally satisfying?

Do you know what makes work personally satisfying for you? After the paycheck, what are the other intangible values that drive you? Barry Schwartz, a psychologist, suggests that our current way of thinking about work is broken; we spend way too much time at work during our lives not to watch this video and challenge us to look at it in a different light. 

Getting back to work after a career break? 

Have you taken a career break and thought about changing career direction? This TED Talk Video by Carol Fishman Cohan, CEO and co-founder, iRelaunch, @iReLaunch, discusses how she broke back into the workforce after a break and how she has turned her experience into a successful mission of helping others do the same.

Are you not progressing at work?

Do you feel like you are not progressing in your career? You have been reaching all your KPIs and getting great feedback, so why are you not moving up? Susan Colantuono shares a simple, yet surprising piece of advice; she is the of CEO of Leading Women and author of No Ceiling, No Walls: What women haven't been told about leadership. 

Do you have any other TED Talk favourites? We would love to hear about them so that we can add to our own playlist of inspirational discussions.