Edited highlights of our full conversation.

Who are you?

Nicolle Pangis is the CEO of Ampersand. They describe themselves as a data-driven TV advertising sales and technology company.

In a world increasingly dependent on zeros and ones, a world in which AI is moving so fast that some tech leaders are calling for its development to be suspended, it’s all too easy to forget the human side of leadership. To forget that, in fact, leaders are human, too.

There are so many influences over the decisions that a leader must make. Profit. Loss. Risk. Reward. Future. Past. Hope. Fear. So many, that our understanding of self often gets lost along the way.

Finding yourself in the middle of that rapidly spinning vortex is not for the unprepared. You need a map. One that shows you the true north of who you are and who you want to be.

If you haven’t prepared this map before you step into the role, it becomes harder and harder to create. Instead, you find yourself drawing a path forward that is based on the expectations, the hopes, and the dreams of others.

Life is short. Your career is shorter. Live them both on your terms and you’ll be able to measure yourself against the most important set of data in the world.

Your own.