Back in the day, as union president, I had a few people come to me saying that the principal’s observations were not valid because he/she did not understand the content, for example, in a foreign language classroom. The principal’s response? “Good teaching is good teaching.” It is with that perspective that I started watching some of the videos highlighted in the blog “TED Talks: 5 Most Inspirational Videos on Leadership” which features leaders from all realms. After all, good leadership is good leadership- whether it be a Fortune 500 Company or a school district.

The processes that we use for decision making and problem solving are based on research done by Ben Tregoe and Charles Kepner and used by Fortune 500 Companies. Ben knew that the same leadership skills that made a difference for companies, could benefit schools and districts-and ultimately children. We have found that these processes and practices work well, no matter what the content.

The videos included in this “most inspirational” list all feature great lessons learned by strong leaders that are applicable to leaders in the education realm. “Forget the Pecking Order at Work,” was the one that struck me because it talks about a “culture of helpfulness” and “social capital” both easily recognized as important aspects in our classrooms, but that often do not carry all the way to the top.

Despite not using education content or jargon, each of these individual videos offers lessons that can help spark ideas, conversations and practices in educational leadership. As with many TED talks, they are truly “ideas worth spreading.”