Antioch University faculty member Yulia Tolstikov-Mast, PhD, recently shared a TED Talk-style presentation, “Leaders Don’t Change the World,” exploring a lesson about leadership she learned far beyond the classroom.
In 2022, Yulia traveled to Warsaw, Poland, to volunteer with Ukrainians forced to flee their country following Russia’s full-scale invasion. She arrived ready to contribute her skills, project-management experience, and leadership. But within hours, she realized the moment required something different: the ability to follow. And before long, her role changed again.
The experience reshaped how Yulia thinks about leadership, followership, and change. Rather than focusing solely on developing leaders, she asks what might happen if we also developed our capacity to move between roles—to recognize when to lead, when to follow, when to step forward, and when to step back.
Her presentation offers a compelling perspective on leadership as something more dynamic and responsive than a title or position.
