Ideas worth spreading

What I learned from giving up everything I knew as a leader

87,372 views | Jim Whitehurst • TED@BCG Toronto

As the former Chief Operating Officer of Delta, Jim Whitehurst thought he knew the rules for how to lead. "I thought I was the person ultimately responsible for solving the problems facing my organization. I was the one who was supposed to bring order and structure," he says. His world was turned upside down when he left Delta to become CEO of Red Hat, an open-source software company. Whitehurst shares what he learned when he took this leap of faith and joined a company unlike any he'd ever seen.

As the former Chief Operating Officer of Delta, Jim Whitehurst thought he knew the rules for how to lead. "I thought I was the person ultimately responsible for solving the problems facing my organization. I was the one who was supposed to bring order and structure," he says. His world was turned upside down when he left Delta to become CEO of Red Hat, an open-source software company. Whitehurst shares what he learned when he took this leap of faith and joined a company unlike any he'd ever seen.

This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with BCG.

Read more about the TED Institute.

About the speaker

Jim Whitehurst

Jim Whitehurst

Business executive

Jim Whitehurst is an advocate for open software as a catalyst for business innovation. As the president and CEO of Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source enterprise IT software solutions and services, Whitehurst spearheaded growth of revenue from $500 million to almost $3 billion for the company's 2018 fiscal year. His 2015 book, "The Open Organization: Igniting Passion and Performance," focuses on how open principles of management, based on transparency, participation and community can help organizations navigate and succeed in our fast-paced connected era.

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

Read more about the TED Institute

This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with BCG.

Read more about the TED Institute.