The $9 Trillion Secret to Thriving at Work | Michelle Silverthorn | TEDxWCC
The speaker asserts that professional stagnation costing companies $9 trillion annually stems from a lack of personal narrative focus, advising attendees to adopt the framework of *THRIVE* to become the hero of their own career story. This involves defining one's personal brand, setting short-term goals, cultivating mentors and champions, building visibility through risk, and embracing failure through resilience.
## Speakers & Context
- Unnamed speaker addressing an audience of professors/colleagues.
- Addresses the audience by telling them to look to specific people: "the person to the left of you," "your other left professor," "to the right," and "behind you."
- States that three out of four people in the audience are "not engaged in [their] jobs" and "are not enjoying them."
## Theses & Positions
- Thriving at work means the individual must be the hero of their own story, writing every day a new chapter.
- The solution to professional disengagement is mastering the concept of self-narrative, encapsulated by the word *THRIVE*.
- Success is achieved by anchoring one's daily actions and overcoming obstacles with core values.
- The process requires intentionally managing the gap between one's self-knowledge and public perception.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Personal brand:** In common parlance, answering the question, "Who are you?"
- **Hero's Journey:** A narrative structure that typically involves a hero or heroes on a quest, overcoming obstacles, and finding fulfillment or purpose.
- **Self-doubt:** A common element in the hero's journey that *all* heroes experience, contrasting sharply with villains.
- **Core values:** Personal principles (e.g., teamwork, integrity) that must be held onto when obstacles arise to achieve "real success."
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Personal Branding:** Bridging the gap between "who you know you are" and "how other people see you" by answering three questions: 1) Who are you? 2) What do people assume about you? 3) What do you want people to know about you?
- **Handling Self-Doubt:** Recognizing when self-doubt arises (e.g., in meetings, on group calls) and mastering the specific skills, actions, or behaviors needed to overcome it.
- **Road Mapping:** Redoing one's professional map by setting goals for short timeframes (end of today, this week, this month) rather than distant decades.
- **Building Support Structure:** Identifying peers, colleagues (the "hobbies"), and a mentor (the "Gandalf") who will hold one accountable.
- **Visibility/Venturing:** Taking risks by seeking high-profile assignments and speaking up in meetings to become "seen" and valued.
- **Embracing Resilience (The 'E'):** Recognizing that failure or stumbling is inevitable, and instead of withdrawing to invisibility, one must accept it as part of the continuing story.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Origin of the story:** All works of fiction, throughout human history, tell a story of overcoming obstacles to thrive.
- **Focus for immediate action:** Setting short-term goals ("by the end of today," "by the end of this conference," etc.) to maintain engagement.
## Named Entities
- **Lord of the Rings** — cited as an example of supportive narrative structure (Sam, Wise, Ganji, the hobbits, Gandalf).
- **Gladriel** — cited as an example of the necessary "champion" figure, analogous to the scary elf queen.
## Numbers & Data
- Cost of disengagement: **$9 trillion dollar a year**.
- Ratio of engaged employees: **Three out of the four** are not engaged.
## Examples & Cases
- **Self-Talk to stop:** The word "just" used in phrases like *"just checking in,"* *"just a quick reminder,"* or *"just wants to let you know."*
- **Emotional state example:** Comparing self-doubt to the moments when one questions if they *"deserved that promotion"* or *"deserved to be here."*
- **Growth context:** The principle that people *"don't grow and change from spaces of comfort"* but from spaces of discomfort.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **The Book/Fiction:** The tool used historically to teach the concept of the heroic journey.
## References Cited
- None cited.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Short-term vs. Long-term Goals:** Short-term goals are preferred because they keep the narrative engaged; distant career goals are too abstract.
- **Comfort vs. Discomfort:** Growth and change necessitate moving *from* spaces of discomfort, rather than remaining in comfort.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The temptation to retreat to the comfort of invisibility after failure, accepting the role of the "three out of four people."
## Methodology
- Using the acronym *T.H.R.I.V.E.* as a mnemonic framework to structure personal and professional development.
- Implementing continuous self-assessment regarding one's public perception versus internal reality.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The fundamental secret to overcoming stagnation is adopting the *THRIVE* framework to ensure one is the main character of their own story.
- Action items include detailing personal identity, setting short-term goals, securing a mentor/champion, building visibility, and accepting failure.
## Implications & Consequences
- Failure to act based on this narrative framework results in massive corporate economic costs ($9 trillion annually) and personal life dissatisfaction.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"Three out of the four of you are not engaged in your jobs."*
- *"For me, thriving at work means you are the hero of your own story."*
- *"Tell them who you are. Who are you on this journey?"*
- *"Your goal in telling people who you are creating that personal brand is you are bridging the gap between who you know you are and how other people see you."*
- *"All heroes have self-doubt. You know who never has self-doubt? Villains."*
- *"Don't tell me what you want in your career in 20, 30 years."*
- *"The I in Thrive is you are going to identify your champion."*
- *"We grow from spaces of discomfort. And that is how we are going to thrive."*
- *"T H R I V E. Embrace your resilience."*
- *"The $9 trillion secret that everyone to the left and to the right and around you, they already know."*
- *"You are the main character in your own story."*