Why do we keep rewarding toxic brilliance at work? | Francesca O'Connor | TEDxWorthing

In her talk, Francesca examines The Brilliance Bias – a cultural pattern where “brilliant arseholes” are celebrated and protected, even when their behaviour creates stress, harm, or silence around them. She explores why workplaces and institutions often reward confidence over competence, charisma over care, and performance over genuine impact. Through her own lived experience, Francesca reveals what happens when you become caught in this dynamic, the emotional toll it takes, and the moment that sparked her decision to break the pattern. She also uncovers the wider social cost of elevating the wrong people: burnout, disengagement, lost innovation, and the exclusion of diverse voices. Finally, Francesca offers practical steps for shifting how we recognise, reward, and amplify true brilliance – the kind rooted in empathy, collaboration, and lifting others up. Francesca O’Connor is a workplace culture and communication expert, and co-founder of HappyHQ. She helps organisations build environments where people feel respected, trusted, and able to do their best work. She works with agencies, global brands, and universities to support leaders and teams to communicate clearly, handle challenge well, and create psychological safety rather than fear. Francesca’s work focuses on the gap between the leaders we are taught to admire and the leadership we actually need. She helps people speak with presence (not performance), build trust, and influence without ego. Because who we reward shapes the culture we create. 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