ReThinking: David Beckham on thriving under pressure and learning from mistakes

ReThinking: David Beckham on thriving under pressure and learning from mistakes

From Worklife with Molly Graham by TED

March 31, 2026 · 27 min

About this episode

David Beckham discusses thriving under pressure and learning from mistakes in a conversation with Adam at the World Economic Forum.

In 1998, soccer star David Beckham made international news at his first World Cup when he lost his cool and got a critical red card. But he went on to lead his teams to numerous titles, become runner up for World Player of the Year, and even be knighted for his contributions to the game. In this episode, David joins Adam at the World Economic Forum in Davos to talk about the thrill of performing under pressure, strategies for managing strong emotions, and the unifying power of sport. Adam also grills David about his competitive drive and his unwavering commitment to showing up early. Featured guest Follow David Beckham on Instagram and at davidbeckham.com/ Connect with the team Follow Adam on Instagram , LinkedIn , and at adamgrant.net/ Subscribe to Adam’s Substack Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective Follow TED on X , Instagram , Facebook , LinkedIn , and TikTok For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at  attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Adam

Guest: David Beckham

Topics covered

  • performing under pressure
  • managing emotions
  • competitive drive
  • sports
  • learning from mistakes

Keywords

  • David Beckham
  • pressure
  • emotions
  • sports
  • World Cup
  • competition
  • mistakes

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: World Economic Forum, TED, Acast, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube

Places: Davos

More episodes of Worklife with Molly Graham

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Worklife with Molly Graham podcast page.