The future of leadership development starts within.
In my career I’ve had the opportunity to work in some of the most extraordinary places; interpreting for the United Nations and EU police missions, managing executive MBA and continuing education programmes at IE Business School and ESADE, witnessing best practice in leadership development and learning, up close, about human potential.
And then I went deeper.
I trained in transpersonal psychology, Adlerian counselling, and clinical hypnotherapy, not to leave the world of leadership behind, but to understand what sits beneath it. The presence, the self-awareness, the inner work that no competency model can teach. The things that determine whether a leader can hold complexity, build real trust, and show up as more than their title.
I founded Nai Do Transpersonal Academy, where I train and certify practitioners internationally. And I’ve come to call this intersection, where clinical depth meets leadership development - transpersonal leadership.
As a board-certified clinical hypnotherapist, educator, MBTI® facilitator, and author, my passion is training the next generation of practitioners and leaders to become not just competent, but deeply prepared. The kind of professionals who’ve done their own work and bring that depth into every room they enter.
Keynote: “The Transpersonal Leader: Why the Future of Leadership Development Starts Within”
After two decades of working across institutional, clinical, and academic worlds, training practitioners, sitting with clients in the depths of their inner process, teaching, writing, and researching what actually makes people change, I developed this keynote to say something I believe is long overdue.
We've spent decades teaching leaders what to do. We've given them competency models, strategies, communication frameworks. But we've barely touched the question that determines whether any of it works: who is this person when the framework runs out?
This talk draws on transpersonal psychology, Adlerian theory, and everything I've learned from years of clinical practice and professional education to make a simple case: the leaders who will navigate complexity, build ethical cultures, and sustain real performance aren't the ones with the best tools. They're the ones who've done their own inner work.
Keynotes · Guest Lectures · Executive Workshops · Panel Discussions · Podcast Appearances · In Person or Online
The Transpersonal Leader:
Why the Future of Leadership Development Starts Within
This keynote didn't come from a trend or a theory I read about. It came from over twenty years of living at the intersection of two worlds, the institutional world of business education, where I watched how we develop leaders, and the clinical world of transpersonal psychology, where I learned what transformation actually looks like when it's real.
Years of research, clinical practice, teaching, and writing brought me to a conviction I couldn't keep to myself: we've been asking the wrong question. We keep asking what leaders should do. The question that matters is who they need to become, and what kind of inner development makes that possible.
Strategy can be taught. Presence has to be developed.
Ideal for: Business school leadership modules, executive education programmes, leadership conferences, wellbeing-in-the-workplace events, HR and talent development summits.
Format: 45–60 minute keynote, adaptable to panel or interactive workshop.
ADDITIONAL SPEAKING TOPICS
Beyond Personality: How Self-Knowledge Drives Leadership Performance
Most teams use MBTI® or similar tools and stop at the surface, the four letters, the type description, the “aha” moment. This talk goes deeper. Drawing on her certification as an MBTI® facilitator and her clinical understanding of personality dynamics, Sanela shows how self-knowledge becomes a genuine performance skill, not a one-off workshop exercise, but a living practice that transforms how leaders communicate, make decisions, and build trust.
Format: 60–90 minute interactive workshop or guest lecture. Ideal for MBA leadership modules, team development days, and executive retreats.
The Courage to Start Again: The Psychology of Career Reinvention
From the United Nations to clinical practice. From institutional prestige to founding an academy. Sanela’s personal journey is a masterclass in what it means to let go of one identity and build another. This talk explores the psychology of reinvention through the lens of Adlerian theory, why we resist change, what it actually takes to start over, and why the professionals who go through genuine transformation become the most compelling leaders.
Format: 45–60 minute keynote or fireside chat. Ideal for MBA career weeks, alumni events, women’s leadership programmes, and professional transition conferences.
The Inner Life of the Ethical Professional
We talk endlessly about ethical leadership. We create codes of conduct, compliance programmes, and values statements. But ethics isn’t a framework — it’s a practice that comes from the inside. This talk examines what it means to develop ethical courage at the level of the individual, drawing on Adlerian psychology, transpersonal theory, and clinical experience with professionals navigating moral complexity.
Format: 45–60 minute keynote or panel discussion. Ideal for ethics modules, professional development series, governance conferences, and corporate responsibility events.
Belonging and Leadership: The Missing Foundation
Alfred Adler argued that the need to belong is the deepest human motivation. A century later, we’re finally catching up. This talk connects Sanela’s Master’s research on belonging to the leadership challenge: why teams fracture, why cultures fail, and why the leaders who build real trust are the ones who understand belonging not as a concept, but as a lived experience they’ve cultivated in themselves first.
Format: 45–60 minute keynote or seminar. Ideal for organisational behaviour modules, DEI programming, culture transformation initiatives, and academic conferences.
United Nations · European Union · IE University · ESADE · IACT Board Certified ·
MBTI® Certified · Michael Newton Institute · Author
Let’s talk.
If you’re organising a conference, running a leadership programme, or looking for a guest speaker who brings clinical depth to the conversation about leadership, I’d love to hear from you.
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