Where Does the Power to Create Change Begin? | Wendi Williams, Ph.D. | TEDxAtlanta

A TEDxAtlanta talk by psychologist and leadership scholar Wendi Williams, Ph.D., links a circle of schoolgirls in Brooklyn with a movement that helped bring down the Berlin Wall. The talk asks where the power to create change begins and what it takes to keep going when there is no guarantee that effort will make a difference. Williams reframes leadership around how power is created, rather than around authority and individual achievement. Her work examines how identity, power and belonging shape the way people lead and thrive, and focuses on what becomes possible when people create opportunity for one another. She is president of the American Psychological Association and founder of The Well.

• Two unrelated stories: a circle of schoolgirls in Brooklyn and a movement that helped bring down the Berlin Wall
• Where the power to create change begins
• Reframing leadership around how power is created
• Persistence when outcomes are uncertain

What does a circle of schoolgirls in Brooklyn have in common with a movement that helped bring down the Berlin Wall? Psychologist and leadership scholar Wendi Williams connects two seemingly unrelated stories to explore where the power to create change begins, what it takes to keep going when there's no guarantee that our efforts will make a difference. In her work, Wendi Williams reimagines leadership by focusing on how power is created. A psychologist, educator and leadership scholar, Wendi has spent her career examining how identity, power and belonging shape the way people lead and thrive. Her work challenges traditional models of leadership centered on authority and individual achievement, focusing instead on what becomes possible when people create opportunity for one another. Wendi is president of the American Psychological Association and founder of The Well, a leadership development and consulting practice. Previously, she served as provost and senior vice president at Fielding Graduate University and dean of the School of Education at Mills College. 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