Unlock Your Leadership Potential with Dyanna Menezes – Global Executive and Mentor for High-Performing Leaders

"You're not a leader by chance. It's time to lead with confidence and purpose."

Dyanna Menezes is a global executive and leadership mentor who empowers professionals to transform their leadership through her signature framework, the AP 360 Method. Designed for both emerging and experienced leaders, the method offers a structured, human-centered approach to building high-performing teams and achieving sustainable success.

The AP 360 Method focuses on practical strategies to retain top talent, increase motivation, and foster long-term results. Dyanna's three-month mentorship program includes biweekly group sessions that explore leadership mindset, the PIE Method for career growth, behavioral profiling, team development, and hands-on implementation support. It is built to help leaders evolve with clarity and confidence without sacrificing their well-being. Dyanna also has five other products created to adapt to time and finances, so her mentees wouldn’t have any excuse not to start as soon as possible and transform their leadership and careers.

We connected with Dyanna to explore how leadership can be elevated without burnout and how the future of leadership is being redefined.

Could you tell us more about the AP 360 Method and what inspired you to create it? What gap were you aiming to fill in the leadership space?

I’ve been working with high-performance teams and restructuring departments, and every time I decided to move forward in my career, I realized my old team was kind of emotional about the change. Some of them used to ask me to mentor or advise them. This made me realize I was doing things differently from the rest, and I started to evaluate what the basic difference was. I’m not a kind leader. I drive high performance. But the main difference is that I’m a fair leader. So, I started to map and understand what key actions I used to make those teams loyal and connected with me. The method was born from this brainstorm.

Let’s say that my proposal is to create a movement of human-centered leadership. People are changing, and even the relationship those people have with work is also changing, so leaders should understand that they need to adapt and make sure they are creating a good work environment. In times when burnout is one of the major causes of work absences, it’s our responsibility to maintain our teams working well, while also taking care of their well-being.

How do you personally stay energized and celebrate milestones without feeling overwhelmed or burned out?

Well, I have some routines that I do daily to maintain focus, good energy, and to avoid burnout. I’m a “Miracle Morning” person. This book changed the way I used to take care of my mental health. I also maintain a routine of exercise, therapy, and healthy meals.

I created a routine to reinforce gratitude and celebrate milestones. All the steps of my routine I share with my mentees so they can see it’s possible. Results are remarkable.

In your experience, what leadership practices are most effective in driving high performance? How does emotional intelligence factor into building a resilient leadership style?

Driving high performance is about ensuring you have the right people in the right place and that you don’t waste time on non-relevant activities. So, in my opinion, leaders should focus on strategy, people, and eliminating barriers that waste their team’s time. How can you do that? You should truly know your team and understand their talents, limitations, and dreams. They are the most important tool you have, so use time to understand who they are.

Emotional intelligence means you know yourself and how to control your emotions when needed. That said, leaders can’t be in this position if they don’t know their limits or how to control their frustrations. Leadership is difficult, especially because of the high pressure you need to support. So, you need to understand how you deal under pressure and develop some pressure reliefs. You can’t just release it on your team. Remember, they are executing what you need to achieve goals, so they don’t need this kind of distraction. You should learn how to deal with it and not transfer it to anyone on your team.

Have you encountered any specific challenges as a female leader? If so, could you share a personal experience and how you navigated it?

Yes. Let’s say that the company I work for is really supportive of increasing female leadership and they have programs to empower women to grow. But of course, a company is made of people, and not all of them truly believe in all those initiatives. So, I had some challenges proving myself along this journey. Most of my career, I was the only woman in some roles, so I had to deal with comparisons and even change my communication style to adapt.

The main advice I give on navigating these kinds of challenges is to keep moving anyway. Know yourself and your abilities so well that even if people doubt you, they’ll look at you and your confidence will make them curious—and curiosity will make them try. You only need one chance to prove yourself. So, prove it.

What does the mentorship journey with you look like? What will participants gain from it, and who would benefit most from joining the program?

The main objective of this journey is to create an easy and applicable method so mentees can understand and apply it in real life. For theory and content, we have MBAs and universities, but what those courses don’t teach you is how to navigate big companies and how to be visible when a good job opportunity comes.

So, I work with my students evaluating their environment, and we create an action plan so they can have clarity on the next steps. They learn how to build a strong mindset, how to use social media to promote themselves, and how to connect and influence people so they can grow in their areas.

Based on your years of experience, how do you see leadership evolving, especially for women? Do you believe the future of leadership can truly support both high performance and personal balance?

Well, I see a lot of improvement, especially when talking about diversity and women in leadership. Companies are understanding the value of diversity and how strategic it is to have both women and men leading groups. This brings a different perspective and improves profit in the end.

Regarding high performance and personal balance, let’s say companies are changing, but in my opinion, the change is still discreet. We still have an old generation of leaders who truly believe they need control to make things happen. This is why we’re seeing so many discussions nowadays about Gen Z and its beliefs. Why? Because Gen Z won’t accept what my generation, for example, accepted.

Am I saying I fully agree with what they’re proposing? No. But in my opinion, some changes are really necessary, and in the end, this generation will be the active workforce in a few years. So, I believe companies will have to adapt their leadership styles to survive.

Today, in my current role, I lead 10 Gen Z employees, and they deliver high-performance results. Am I a friend to them? Of course not. But I’m fair, and I develop them so they embrace challenges—and in the end, love working with me, because they trust, have a good work environment, and grow as people and professionals. That is the key.