Animal in the mirror: How smart leaders can tame self-sabotage | Alina Doran | TEDxSugar Creek Women

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What if the biggest obstacle to your success isn't your boss, your coworkers, or your workplace—but you? After working with organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies, Alina Doran discovered a surprising pattern: the behaviors that derail careers and damage teams are often invisible to the people exhibiting them. In this eye-opening talk, she introduces "Animal Intelligence" and reveals five aminals that represent a hidden form of self-protection that can quietly sabotage success. Blending workplace psychology, leadership insights, and real-world examples, this talk explores why people resist change, avoid visibility, seek control, or react impulsively under pressure. More importantly, it shows how greater self-awareness can transform conflict into collaboration, unlock career growth, and create healthier workplaces. If you've ever wondered why talented people get stuck, why teams struggle, or what might be holding you back professionally, this talk offers a powerful new lens for understanding workplace behavior and yourself. Alina Doran is an Executive & Organizational Strategist and the Founder of Highline Leadership. A former corporate leader at Disney, Paramount, and Kaseya, she guides executives, founders, and teams through high-stakes inflection points, transforming silos into collaboration, mistrust into innovation, and overlooked leaders into trusted authorities. Alina is the creator of the Animal Archetypes™, a behavioral framework that reveals how people show up under pressure and how to rewire patterns that don’t serve them. She has taught this work at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, venture capital leadership forums, and inside organizations redesigning how they lead and perform. Her clients include leaders from J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Strava, and the Office of the Surgeon General of California. Based in New York City, Alina helps leaders apply clarity, presence, and strategic precision to the moments that define influence and impact. 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