The vast majority of us are worried. The country we are moving into in 2025 is not, will not be the same country we have lived in for decades. Jeremy Lent, in his article, The Political Cataclysm: Causes, Implications, and a Way Forward, has real insight into the why’s of our political predicament, and his exhortations to be kind and love our fellow human beings, of all stripes, is wise and correct, but the flaw that has gotten us into this mess is still being perpetuated. In this time of stress, we are focusing on ourselves. Understandable, we have to take care of ourselves first before we take care of others. That is true for us and our relation to other humans, but in this case, it will be a disaster and only more of the same old, same old.
 
We have been taken care of for millions and millions of years. The planet is designed to take care of the life that it is composed of, and that includes us. If the planet hadn’t been so successful in doing this, in taking care of us – we would not be here – period. As Robin Wall Kimnerer said, “Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy…” WE have made it difficult for her to do feed, not only us, but the more than human life as well. Our path forward, if we choose to take it is to finally express our appreciation and gratitude by taking care of her!
 
We have only just begun to understand how she has created a world of just the right temperature, a world so full of life, so abundant, that birds filled the sky, and the wind sounded with the rustling of their wings. WE removed that abundance, systematically and relentlessly. We removed that abundance, not so that we could eat, but so others could not, for ‘sport,’ for our ‘convenience.’ Now is the time to work to bring that abundance back.
 
Water is life. While that’s true, it is water in the dirt, in the soil, that is life. Water in the air does us not good, and if it stays up there too long, when it comes down, it comes down in such intense torrents that it does more damage than it brings benefit. Our first act, if we wish to replenish the Earth, is to help water stay in the earth as much as possible. Without water in the soil, we will not have rivers and lakes, but only living soil holds water. Soil will not hold water if it is not full of life already. Science is now saying that two thirds of all life on the planet is in the soil. This would suggest that revitalizing our soils, not only saves life, but helps address the shocking loss of biodiversity we keep ignoring. Water and healthy soil are intertwined, they are interdependent, we can’t have one with the other.

The need for food and a cool enough climate to make food possible is a bipartisan issue. It will take all of us to do the work needed to cool the climate by strengthening the natural systems that produce rain, and forests are key to this rain-making process. Because rain needs to stay on the land long enough to sink in, plants are integral to making sure that the soil is porous enough through their root action, to hold water, but the process of photosynthesis creates carbon, and the transevaporation not only moves water back into the air, thus cooling the earth, but they also send up bacteria, Pseudomonas syringae, which allows water molecules to form rain at lower temperatures, and thus rain in more frequent and small amounts. Eurof Uppington, CEO and founder of Amfora, a Switzerland-based importer of virgin olive oils said in a recent article, “No plants, no rain. Water begets water, say hydrologists; soil is the womb, vegetation is the midwife.” This is the point of the “Water for Climate Healing: A New Water Paradigm” paper written for the UN 2023 Water Conference. “Plants are vital in regulating small water cycles and stabilizing local, regional, and global climates.” They recommend two steps; actions we can take to help the planet:

1. As a first step, it is necessary to slow down to stop the decrease in water retention capacity due to changes in its use. New public policies for urban development and agriculture will help.
2. By preparation and implementation of the adaptation (nature-based solutions, new landscape features, new water retention measures, new water holdings, blue and green infrastructure) and management measures (regenerative agriculture, rainwater harvesting in cities, communities, in forest, and agricultural land) we will increase significantly lost water retention capacity.

What is true is that nature heals. When we put our hands in the dirt, our whole mood changes. We find peace and hope in the soil. That suggests, to me, that when we turn to the planet and work to restore the natural ability of the earth to cool itself, then we will also heal ourselves. Working with the Earth will make it easier for us to be kind and caring to one another as we make amends for the damage we’ve done. This is a win, win, win solution, and one we can do, no matter what else is happening around us. We need to use our energy to heal and support life, not to defend and fight.
 
Working with the land to slow and sink water, refreshing the soil with compost, biochar, and biologics, planting forests using the Miyawaki method are all actions that are within the reach of each of us. Not only that, but we will see the results in three short years. Re-greening our planet brings joy to our hearts and water to our rivers. This is doable, but the longer we wait, the more difficult it will be to counteract the warming that is taking place right now. I urge you; I urge everyone to turn to the planet and take action to heal and rebalance it. Fill your mind with thoughts of regenerating life and watch your heartbeat with joy. Knowing that you are working to bring back LIFE, in all its glory, is the very best antidote to despair and anxiety. Watching life come back is real and the perfect antidote to disinformation. Seeing and experiencing the vitality of nature makes the feeling of hope tangible and concrete.
 
Life loves life! YOU are life and you are loved. Nature loves, not in a romantic, tit-for-tat way, but in a way that recognizes the value and importance of every living thing as each entity on the planet contributes to the health and continued success of life on the planet. When we rejoin that merry band, then we will be able to allow ourselves to feel the love that is all around us, we will be worthy.

Leadership – I’m finding that I don’t like that word. It seems to suggest, or the baggage it carries, is that this is someone’s job – to lead. Actually, it is everyone’s one job, to step up and offer their wisdom, in the moment it is needed. The thought that it is someone else’s job, is part of the problem, IMO. What I love about Brian Stout’s article is the range and complexity he is trying to encompass. He calls the visionary leader is one who: instills belonging and connection, someone who uses influence as a motivating force for co-creation, someone who understands that true power is relational, He sees it as “an individual capacity enacted in a collective context,” as a form of relational interdependence. That interdependence means that ‘unlocking gifts’ is a core aspect of this form of leadership, but doing it “in service to the whole.” Brian would say that leaders define the why and then everyone co-creates the path. I was excited when he said, “This is what I think Miki Kashtan was getting at when she observed: The deepest form of human wisdom is mutual influencing.” And influencing, in his view, is about story telling that shapes the problem and suggests an imaginative solution that others can co-create. Then he ties it altogether with accountability, accountability to the whole.
 
I find this exploration refreshing. After 35 years of thinking about leadership, I stopped looking at people, and instead looked at nature. Gaia is amazing. This about it, nature WORKS, and it is getting better and better at creating life. Life – living things, are becoming more complex, new forms are being created (faster?) as we discover bacteria that eat plastic, oil, nuclear waste, and more. How does this happen? Who’s in charge? Where’s the “leadership?”
 
I’ve come to understand that world-making comes from self-making, there are no ‘leaders’ as we are used to using that term. Let me explain how I see the world, and then I’ll touch on why our current civilization doesn’t seem to work that way, and what we might do about it.
 
What struck me most about Brian’s article is the close relationship between his expression of relational interdependence and autopoiesis, self-making, as described in systems thinking by Fritjof Capra and Maturana and Varela. The wonder, for me, is that the whole world is composed of living things, there is nothing without sentience. By composed, I mean that there is nothing else, nothing, else! Each living thing is responding to the experience of the other living things it encounters. That encounter requires a decision – good for me or bad for me? That choice shapes the response from the others, which informs.. and so it goes. This is exactly what happens in leadership, but often the leaders are unaware, and that unawareness means that there is often a mismatch between with is said and what is done. This is a fatal flaw in leaders.
 
If the mutual influencing is the core of what happens in the world, (and it is), then clearly everything in interdependent. Leaders often fail to truly understand this. Nothing stands on its own, everything responds and is responded to by everything else, and this is one huge stimulation for innovation, AND for the lack of innovation. Context is everything. All actions create the conditions that life responds to, either deciding it is good for me, or it is not good for me, and acting on that decision. A fundamental question for leaders is, are your actions good for your employees? If no, how can you expect your employee’s actions to be good for the company?
 
Of the 16 ‘values’ I’ve identified by talking to scientists, poets, indigenous folks and systems thinkers, at least 10 have to do with the relationship between life forms. LIFE is relational! Humans seem to keep trying to make it transactional, but doing so misses the point that LIFE loves life! It misses the point that LIFE wants to keep life going, to make It better, more creative, more complex, to keep it thriving. Humans seem to be hell bent on making it simpler, more stable, more repetitive, less surprising, less dynamic, and more controlled. Leadership styles follow suit. Traditional leadership, called Command and Control, is certainly in the latter mode. What I hear Brian calling for is leadership that falls in the former, LIFE enhancing mode.
 
For leaders to make this shift, the measure of success that utilizes money will need to shift to a form of evaluation that sees thriving as a measure of success. That means that we will have to open up to the truth held in subjective, even personal evaluation, instead of clinging to the ‘objective’ measure of money that is external to lived experience. This is not a small ask, as leaders will need to trust themselves as well as others. Trust has been rather elusive in the leadership game for decades, as explored by Stephen M.R. Covey in The Speed of Trust.
 
Brian’s focus on relational, interdependence, on influence and unlocking gifts, seems to fit right in with how the rest of the world works. Isn’t it magical to think about all the other life forms in and around us influencing each other and in doing so unlocking the latent gifts each holds that lead to evolution? I get chills just thinking about it. Do the leaders you know get excited about the new and unusual actions employees might be taking as they interact with each other and customers? Or, does that new and unusual behavior make them crazy? How flexible are our organizations? How willing to change and learn? What ever happened to the ‘learning organization?’ We seemed to have slipped back into control in a search for certainty, instead of leaning into the change that true diversity brings.
 
Decades ago, we realized that control and standardization work well in an unchanging world. What we didn’t realize then was how changing the world really is. Given the collapse of so many of our systems given our unwillingness to change, and the pressure that a now very rapidly changing environment is placing on our current business and leadership models, perhaps now is the time to face these changes with open arms and a curious leadership style that will allow for an interdependent approach to be devised between business and the rest of life. We have been seeking to have life conform to business, but shifting that, to have business conform to the needs of LIFE, might just make the sift not only more interesting, but even possible.
 
Trust in such a changing environment requires experience, lots of experience, and deep trust in both oneself, and in LIFE as well. Experience comes with age, but that only happens with self-reflection and an openness to learn, not every older person has these characteristics. Because people learn at different rates and pay attention to different things, only some people will have the discernment to see a path forward in turbulent times. Perhaps if we could see leadership as a job, instead of a character trait, that might lighten the load for those who take it on? This dilemma is not going away, Brian, keep it up!