Where do you go to get great ideas?  I like to read…and I tend to best assimilate knowledge this way.  I know not everyone has this capacity or interest—some of you are more visual and auditory.  If you’re in this latter group of learners, you might want to spend some time on TED.

TED (an abbreviation for Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a nonprofit organization that began in 1984 with the purpose of spreading great ideas.  For years, they’ve hosted annual conferences, and in 2007 they launched a video-enabled website that has become quite popular.

The premise of TED is to challenge the finest thought leaders in the world to give the best talk of their life…in 18 minutes or less.  The speeches are traditionally given at one of two live conferences held each year (one in Long Beach, CA and one in Oxford).  Although, it appears that TED has recently started adding more conferences as their popularity has grown.

Here is a speech that you may want to digest if you’re a recruiter or a hiring manager who wants to become better at engaging the most talented individuals:

In this talk, author and consultant, Simon Sinek explains how great leaders have inspired great causes—both throughout history and even in modern day life. They do so by reversing the normal order of discovery, focusing first and most passionately on the question “Why?”  Most people focus their effort on the questions “What?” and “How?” and never get to the most important question.

This oversight is very common in real estate recruiting, and it’s one of the main reasons that so few candidates are inspired to action after an interview.  I don’t want to say any more at the risk of stealing Simon’s thunder, but let me assure you if you can master this technique and apply it to your candidate interactions, your effectiveness will skyrocket.  Enjoy!

Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.