309: Wayfinding and Developing Identity Agency with Ciela Hartanov

“The Sensitive Leader is a wayfinder, not a truth teller” with all the answers. Learn how serendipity helped today’s guest, Ciela Hartanov, successfully pitch an internal project to co-found and lead The Google School for Leaders; why sense-making is an essential skill when pivoting; and how to “right-size” a proposal until you get a yes. 

We also discuss what it means to develop “identity agency,” how Ciela knew it was time to go out on her own, why building a personal brand isn’t the end-all-be-all, and how to build trend-spotting skills.

More About Ciela: Ciela Hartanov was part of the founding team of The Google School for Leaders and Head of Next Practice Innovation and Strategy at Google, where she developed projects designed to shape the future of leadership and work. She currently runs humcollective, a boutique strategy and innovation firm that helps companies, executives, and teams make sense of the forces shaping the future and prepare strategically, and cohosts a podcast called Questioning Work.

🌟 3 Key Takeaways:

Sense-making means asking: “What’s interesting here? What’s going on here?” It’s about entering more into playfulness than problem-solving.

Tension is essential in the innovative process because it provides energy to continue working on new ideas.

Identity agency: Develop a sense of who you are outside of your public-facing brand or even the brand association from working at a well-known company.


✅ Next Action:
Build your trend-spotting skills by taking a walk in your neighborhood. What are you noticing? What are the things you haven’t been seeing? What does that tell you about the world?

📘Books: 

Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business

Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One

Life After College

Reclaiming Sensitivity (early 2024)


🔗Resources:

Ciela on the web, IG: @cielarose, Twitter: @CHartanov, LinkedIn, Medium


Ciela’s Podcast: Questioning Work


Articles: It’s Finally Time to Retire ‘Good to Great’ From the Leadership Canon


Tool: chatGPT



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301: The Future is Analog and Books Aren’t Going Anywhere with David Sax

282: The Honor Roll Hangover with Melody Wilding

260: Everyday Rituals and the 'Sparkling of the Sacred' with Casper ter Kuile

228: How I Run My Business Without Social Media

306: ⛵️Stop Sailing the Sea of Shiny Shoulds (Free Time Crossover)

75: Become a Trend Curator + Non-Obvious Trends for 2018 with Rohit Bhargava

172: Self-Care for Empaths and HSPs with Sarah Santacroce

Free Time 154: The Hard No ❌



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