Filmed at Google LondonIntroduction by Peter BarronGavin Esler has been interviewing leading figures from politics, sports, industry and the arts for more than thirty years - from Bill Clinton and Alistair Campbell to Lady Gaga and Angelina Jolie. In this talk, he draws upon his experience at the BBC to examine how leaders in all fields -- from politics to media, from business to the arts -- all have to master a crucial skill: that of storytelling. About themselves, their origins, their beliefs -- and where they and their audience are headed.
Based on insights from his book, 'Lessons from the Top: The 50 Most Successful Business Leaders in America - and What You Can Learn From Them":Great leaders have always understood the power of stories. Through the stories they tell, the most successful leaders educate, persuade and bring about change, but we rarely have the background knowledge to explore how they do so. In this hugely insightful guide to getting to the top, leading journalist Gavin Esler presents first-hand knowledge of the secrets of those who achieve power based on over thirty years' experience interviewing world famous figures from Bill Clinton to Angelina Jolie. Introducing the questions every leader must answer - and the elements that the best stories must contain - Esler explains how creating a leadership story can promote success at all levels, whether running for the United States presidency, or applying for a place at university. While many essentials of storytelling have stood the test of time, he examines the opportunities and pressures created by twenty-first century phenomena such as 24 hour news, and what they tell us about how to reach the top - and how to judge those already there. Spanning fields from business and culture to the military and even taking in lessons from terrorism, Lessons from the Top offers a fascinating portrait of leadership in the modern world - and shows how the methods of the most powerful leaders could work for you.