What have we got wrong about leadership? | Shoandeep Radhakrishnan | TEDxMonash University Malaysia

Description: This talk challenges the assumption that leaders earn followers through authority, volume, or confidence, arguing instead that people follow those they trust. Drawing on Julius Caesar's legions, GPS-tracked baboons, elephant matriarchs, and a study of Malaysian workplace teams, the speaker shows that genuine followership differs from obedience. He closes with a practical framework for building trust through self-trust, trusting others, and earning trust through passion, care, and sacrifice. A technologist and a strategy engineer whose work at Maxis turns emerging technology and long-term thinking into real world action. But his perspective on leadership was forged before that. Throughout his time at Monash University Malaysia he held several key leadership roles, ranging from engineering teams to volunteer initiatives and student governance, work that taught him how to build collaboration across very different backgrounds. At the heart of his leadership philosophy is a simple belief: trust is the foundation every great team is built on, and the one thing a leader cannot ask for without first having earned. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx Close description