Tech CEO’s secret leadership energy weapon: ecstatic, judgment-free dance

Tech executive Tatyana Mamut has discovered a surprising productivity secret that fuels her leadership as a founder and CEO: ecstatic dance. Despite managing significantly more responsibilities as co-founder of GenAI platform Wayfound, which has raised over $3 million and achieved 800 percent month-over-month revenue growth, Mamut reports feeling more energetic than during her previous executive roles at Nextdoor and Pendo.io. Her experience highlights the critical but often overlooked connection between personal energy management and leadership effectiveness, especially for founders whose energy directly influences their teams and business outcomes.

The discovery: Mamut found ecstatic dance in 2021 through yoga connections during pandemic-era outdoor gatherings in Golden Gate Park, transforming her approach to energy management.

• The practice involves free-form movement without choreography or judgment, allowing participants to express themselves individually while part of a collective experience.
• Unlike structured dance forms, ecstatic dance requires no specific steps or partners, creating an environment where everyone can manifest their own experience without criticism.

Why this matters: For founders and CEOs, personal energy management is as crucial as technical skills or business strategy.

• As Mamut explains, founders must “channel your energy into creating a team, inspiring a team, creating a product, connecting with customers, and then manifesting and growing this business through your energy.”
• The leadership role requires being the “first mover” and “driver” of organizational energy, with team members continually drawing from the founder’s reserves.

The big picture: Mamut’s experience illustrates how unconventional practices can provide executives with the resilience needed for demanding leadership positions.

• The exhaustion many founders face comes not just from workload but from the continuous energy demands of those around them.
• Without effective personal energy management techniques, even accomplished executives may find the CEO role “really, really hard and frustrating,” according to Mamut.