Cultivating Creative Leadership | Melodie Leung | TEDxWoodLaneWomen

Описание: In this inspiring TEDx talk, Melodie Leung reveals how trust, in yourself and in others, is the true catalyst for extraordinary creativity.
As an architect who began her career at 25 under the mentorship of the legendary Zaha Hadid, Melodie shares how being sent into boardrooms in New York, Hong Kong, and Germany long before she felt ready taught her a profound lesson: creative leadership isn't about having all the answers — it's about being fully dedicated to the journey.
Through vivid stories, from building a cardboard city with friends as a teenager in suburban Chicago, to learning musicality at the piano, to leading the construction of a landmark sculptural billboard in London. Melodie reveals the two sides every creative must learn to bridge:
The technical and the emotional – Precision without feeling is incomplete. Feeling without the ability to deliver is ineffective. True creative impact lives where both meet.
She shares how leading a team of 20 consultants older and more experienced than her taught her to trust herself — to ask the right questions, set priorities through differing opinions, and find unexpected solutions, like hiring shipbuilders for the structure and railway bridge specialists for assembly.
But Melodie's deepest insight comes from the culture Zaha Hadid built around her: one where imitation was frowned upon, originality was respected, and the bar was always set just beyond what you'd done before. Her message is both a tribute and a call to action: creative leadership is not about being creative alone, it's about elevating others, setting the conditions for exploration, and establishing a belief in what's possible. If you've ever doubted whether you're ready to lead, create, or trust yourself. This talk will change how you see what's possible. Melodie Leung is a Director at Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) where she holds leadership roles in creative direction, design and communications. In almost two decades working throughout the practice, she has focused on delivering seminal projects that include award-winning architecture, interiors, product design as well as acclaimed exhibitions at leading museums and galleries around the world. Elected by her peers to the board of the firm’s employment benefit trust, Melodie is helping to drive the company’s commitment to community social responsibility. 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