What's your leadership language? | Rosita Najmi (re-release)

Summary

TED Talks Daily — What’s Your Leadership Language? | Rosita Najmi (Re-release)

Episode Date: July 27, 2026
Speaker: Rosita Najmi
Host: Elise Hu

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Episode Overview

In this compelling TED Talk, global development economist Rosita Najmi challenges the conventional obsession with “leadership styles.” Drawing on her experiences as an Iranian refugee, global professional, and business school student, Najmi argues that leadership effectiveness isn’t about sticking to a single style. Instead, visionary leaders should embrace the concept of “leadership languages” — the ability to translate and adapt communication across different sectors and situations. Najmi’s message: to create real impact, leaders must become multilingual, bridging divides and harnessing diverse perspectives to tackle complex, cross-sector challenges.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rethinking Leadership: From Style to Language

• Traditional Focus on Style: Many leaders focus on identifying and perfecting their personal “leadership style”—collaborative, decisive, hands-off, etc.—and believe that's the key to effectiveness.
  • “Many leaders obsess over leadership style when really they just need to get over themselves. Sorry, leader, it's not about you.” (Najmi, 00:31)
• The Overlooked Element: Najmi realized that success isn’t about one “best” style but about understanding and speaking the right language for each context.
  • Her experience navigating cultures and sectors taught her that every sector (corporate, nonprofit, public) has its own jargon, expectations, and communication norms.

2. Personal Journey — Becoming Multilingual Across Sectors

• Early Exposure: As an Iranian refugee in rural Tennessee, and later traveling and working across more than 30 countries, Najmi thought her cross-cultural skills would translate easily into leadership.
• Business School Epiphany: On her first day at business school, she was faced with not just new business jargon, but a whole mix of sectoral languages:
  • “It wasn't English, French, or my native Persian. It was a bouillabaisse of languages, jargon from across the organizational multiverse, the corporate world, the nonprofit sphere, international development, and the public sector.” (Najmi, 04:18)
• Trial & Error in Leading:
  • Founded a nonprofit, learned about multiple “leadership styles,” and worked with notable figures (General Colin Powell, Dr. Maya Angelou).
  • Concluded that defaulting to a single style—like a native tongue—doesn’t work in every situation.

3. The Power of the Multilingual Leader

• Research Backing: While at Omidyar Network, Najmi sponsored a study on impact investment funds:
  • Findings: The most successful leaders were those “multilingual” in sectoral language, able to communicate and bridge gaps between business, nonprofit, philanthropy, and government.
• Example of Language Switching:
  • “The multilingual leader will describe their work as being unremittingly financially driven. (Business speak) Moving the needle on social and environmental challenges. (Nonprofit and philanthropic speak) While addressing systemic market failures. (Public policy speak)” (Najmi, approx. 07:42)
• Core Languages for Leaders: Finance, nonprofit, government, and international development.

4. Application: Tackling Complex Issues with Leadership Languages

• Najmi proposes three universal, cross-cutting topics leaders should focus on: Data, Climate, and Power.
  • She chooses to “double click” on power, particularly gender equality, to illustrate cross-sector leadership in action.
• Examples by Sector (Power and Gender Equality):
  • Public sector: Create equity through regulation and incentives (e.g. gender data, women on boards, gender budgeting, paid care mandates).
  • Business: Design products/services for female customers, diversify supply chains with women-owned businesses, invest in pay equity and leadership for women.
  • Philanthropy/International Development: Remove barriers to power, fund research & training, support grassroots campaigns for social and cultural change, promote women’s decision-making roles.
  • “The multilingual leader can be conversant and use the languages of all of these sectors to identify the root causes and then collaborate together to find the solutions to these complex issues.” (Najmi, 10:50)

5. The Takeaway: Leadership Is About Languages

• “Don’t fret over your leadership styles. Focus on your leadership languages.” (Najmi, 11:45)
• Leaders should honestly assess—what sector languages do you already speak, and which do you need to learn next?

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:31 – Najmi introduces the central theme: leadership is not about style.
• 04:00 – 05:40 – Personal story: from refugee upbringing to cross-sector experience.
• 07:00 – Epiphany about “leadership languages” vs. “leadership style.”
• 07:42 – Findings from the Omidyar Network study on successful “multilingual” leaders.
• 09:30 – 11:00 – Practical sector examples: applying leadership language to gender equality and power.
• 11:45 – Core message and call to action.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rosita Najmi:
  • “Many leaders obsess over leadership style when really they just need to get over themselves. Sorry, leader, it's not about you.” (00:31)
  • “It wasn't English, French, or my native Persian. It was a bouillabaisse of languages, jargon from across the organizational multiverse...” (04:18)
  • “I became convinced that there’s no best type of leadership. So many of us just default to one style or another, similar to how we’re born with our native tongue. But this default style doesn’t work in every situation.” (05:22)
  • “According to this study, the multilingual leader will describe their work as being unremittingly financially driven. (Business Speak) Moving the needle on social and environmental challenges. (Nonprofit and philanthropic speak) While addressing systemic market failures. (Public Policy Speak)” (07:42)
  • “The successful leader will aspire to be multilingual, to speak fluently with all groups and to translate among them.” (06:28)
  • “Don't fret over your leadership styles. Focus on your leadership languages.” (11:45)

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Episode Summary & Flow

Rosita Najmi’s TED Talk reframes what it means to be an effective leader in the modern world. Through personal narrative, cross-sector anecdotes, and research-backed insights, Najmi advocates for “leadership languages” over rigid styles. Her central message is clear: adaptability and cross-sector fluency are the real skills that create impact. Najmi’s practical illustrations (especially regarding gender equality and power) show how leaders in business, government, and philanthropy each use different vocabularies, but must eventually work together to solve society’s biggest challenges. The episode leaves listeners with a reflective question—what new leadership languages will you learn next?

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Transcript

[A]

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. If you've been in the working world for a while, you probably have some sense of your own leadership style, or at least the leadership styles of the people around you. Collaborative, decisive, hands off. But global development economist Rosita Najmi says leadership styles might not be the thing to focus on.

[B]

Many leaders obsess over leadership style when really they just need to get over themselves. Sorry, leader, it's not about you. What's more useful is to adapt and personalize your leadership to be the leader the situation and the people involved need.

[A]

Rosita, an Iranian refugee who grew up in rural Tennessee, has lived and worked across more than 30 countries, so she thought she knew how to move between cultures and languages. But she was in business school when she realized that leadership has its own set of languages across corporations, nonprofits, philanthropy, the public sector, and more. In this talk from 2023, she shares why being a multilingual leader is key, because good leadership isn't about having one fixed style. It's about learning how to translate for different audiences. That's coming up right after a short break. Foreign. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card puts the power of Titanium in the palm of your hand. What does that mean? It means the power to earn unlimited daily cash back on your purchases every day. It means a materially different credit card accepted anywhere in the world. MasterCard is accepted. Ditch the plastic, upgrade to titanium, apply in the Wallet app on iPhone today subject to credit approval. Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch terms and [e-mail] this episode is brought to you by Dell. Back to school starts now. Get long lasting battery life on the Dell XPS laptop powered by Series 3 Intel Core so you can work from anywhere now starting at $699 with exclusive student pricing starting at $599. And it's lightweight, portable and packed, with enough processing power to make multitasking a breeze. So say goodbye to distractions and hello to more free time because you finished your work faster, complete your setup with savings on select monitors and more. Must have electronics and accessories, limited time deals and free shipping on PCs and more await [e-mail] deals that's Dell.com deals. This episode is brought to you by gusto. For a lot of small business owners, the challenge isn't just growing the business, it's everything that comes with it. Hiring, payroll, benefits, the Work that happens behind the scenes but still takes real time and energy. That's where Gusto makes a difference. Gusto is an online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. It's all in one remote, friendly and incredibly easy to use so you can pay, hire onboard and support your team from anywhere. With built in automated tools, your team spends less time on paperwork and more time focused on growth. And Gusto has options for nearly every budget you get. Unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price. No hidden fees, no surprises. Getting started is easy. Transfer your existing data and get up and running quickly. Try gusto [e-mail] Ted Talks and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free [e-mail] Ted talks one more time gusto.com TedTalks and now our TED Talk of the Day.

[B]

As an Iranian refugee who grew up in rural East Tennessee and someone who studied, lived and worked in over 30 countries, I thought I knew how to navigate across cultures and languages. I was wrong. There I was, day one of business school, getting my bearings and hearing an alien language. It wasn't English, French, or my native Persian. It was a bouillabaisse of languages, jargon from across the organizational multiverse, the corporate world, the nonprofit sphere, international development, and the public sector. It was weird. In business school, I thought I'd learn about leadership styles. What I found were leadership languages. And I learned that by becoming conversant in these languages that I could communicate with and contribute to all of these worlds. So how does one become multilingual? Here's my story. In college, I went to West Africa to study microfinance and economic empowerment. Seeing a large public health need, I co founded and led a nonprofit collecting medical supplies and money. We saw what collective action could yield and we were creative with our advocacy and our fundraising with campaigns like Band Aids for Benin. Along the way, I studied different leadership styles. Autocratic, democratic, laissez faire servant, collaborative, transformational, and more. I read books, attended trainings, and I even had the privilege to study with some of the greats and to work with General Colin Powell and Dr. Maya Angelou. After all of this, I became convinced that there's no best type of leadership. So many of us just default to one style or another, similar to how we're born with our native tongue. But this default style doesn't work in every situation. Many leaders obsess over leadership style when really they just need to get over themselves. Sorry leader, it's not about you. What's more useful is to adapt and personalize your leadership. To be the leader the situation and the people involved need. It's not so much style as language, the living vernacular of each discrete community and culture. The successful leader will aspire to be multilingual, to speak fluently with all groups and to translate among them. In 2012, while working at the Omidyar Network, I was one of the sponsors of a two year study of 12 impact investing funds. One of the AHAs of this project was that the most successful funds were those led by multilingual leaders. People that could communicate across the corporate, nonprofit, philanthropic and public policy perspectives. These leaders also made sure that others on their team were multilingual. This came to me as a bit of a surprise. I expected the secret sauce to be in sophisticated financial modeling or some other type of complex analysis. According to this study, the multilingual leader will describe their work as being unremittingly financially driven. Business Speak Moving the needle on social and environmental challenges. Nonprofit and philanthropic speak while addressing systemic market failures. Public Policy Speak the study further found the need to be conversant into four industry languages. There's a finance, nonprofit, government and international development. The multilingual leader was something that seemed very familiar to me. This really rang true based on my own experience of patchworks across these sectors. And it took me back to that first weird day in business school. Now that we've described the how, let us turn to the what. Where should leaders focus? I will modestly propose three topics that cut across issues and together we'll double click on one of them. Data. Climate. Power. How each of these sectors measure the impact and even the timing, the tempo and the tools that they use for each could not be more different. Say you're the private sector. At one end you have accounting on a daily, a weekly, a monthly and quarterly increments. The public sector you're working on multi year election cycles. The non profit and philanthropic sector. Well, you may give yourself 15 years or even a generation to reach a goal. Yet all of these sectors must come together to reach these outcomes. To make it real. Let's look together about how these sectors can come together to address power with the focus on gender equality. Say you're a public sector leader. You have the unique ability to create equity, a level playing field so everyone has a fair shot. You can create regulations and incentives to increase the use of gender data. You can set goals for women on boards and in public office. You can practice gender budgeting and you can mandate people paid care. Say you're a leader in the business sector. You can design products and services that unleash the economic power of the female customer. You can fortify and diversify your supply chain with women owned businesses. And you can invest in your female talent pipeline with pay equity and leadership opportunities so that your corporate decisions are are more inclusive. Or maybe you work in philanthropy or international development. You can help remove the barriers, whether formal or informal, that influence how power is distributed. You can fund the research and training that both the public and the private sector need to do their part. You can fund campaigns and grassroots efforts that influence social and cultural norms. And you can help get women in decision making roles in their households, in their communities, in their countries and in economies. The multilingual leader can be conversant and use the languages of all of these sectors to identify the root causes and then collaborate together to find the solutions to these complex issues. So here is over 20 years of experience distilled into one sentence. Don't fret over your leadership styles. Focus on your leadership languages. So over to you leader. Which languages are you going to learn next? Thank you.

[A]

That was Rosita Najmi at ted women in 2023. This talk was originally published in January of 2024. If you're curious about Ted's curation, visit Ted.comCurationGuidelines and that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is a podcast from ted. This episode was fact checked by the TED Research team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Lucy Little, Emma Tobner, and Tanzika Sangarniva. Additional support from Daniela Ballarazo, Christopher Faizy Bogan, Valentina Bohanini, Banban Chang, Brian Greene, and Lainey Lott. Learn [e-mail] I am Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feedback. Thanks for listening. This episode is sponsored by Kohler Smart Toilets. The objects we interact with most are often the ones we notice least. But what if the most overlooked space in your home could be the most considered? Kohler Smart Toilet challenges that assumption. Their Vail Smart Toilet is a sculptural silhouette that isn't just intentional. It's a philosophy that design changes everything. The kohlervale Smart Toilet is sleek, with a rounded shape that's more like architecture than just plumbing. And it goes beyond looks. The touchscreen controls and customizable cleansing features offer a level of comfort and cleanliness that exceeds expectations. It's all about elevating those ordinary daily rituals into something extraordinary through thoughtful design. Kohler has been pushing these boundaries for over 150 years, mastering that balance of stunning form and high performance function. That's a long time to get it right and it shows in every detail. Experience the difference of Kohler Smart Toilets. Find out [e-mail]

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