Programs
How does nature use power?
We tend to think about power as finite, like a pizza. If you take 2 slices, there are only 6 left – so we think we need to fight for power, “redistribute it” or “give it back”.
But is that really how it works?
What if there's another way to look at power?
What if most damage is done not because of power, but because of how we think about it and therefore use it?
I spent my last 10+ years working at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship and social impact – while also practicing with cognitive sciences, ancestral traditions and indigenous wisdom.
Once I allowed those apparently separate dimensions to re-connect, a new perspective on leadership, power, purpose and "impact" emerged. Today I call it The Way of Nature.
Currently I:
- teach about Power, Purpose and New Leadership at the Politecnico of Milano, at the Tiresia Executive Program on Sustainability and Impact Leadership (MIP)
- train investors, family office members, founders and activists on Power and Purpose with 1:1 dedicated programs
- collaborate with indigenous leaders and organisations to develop effective impact strategies to preserve ancient traditions and regenerate nature
- advise companies and organisation on purpose, impact strategy and decentralised models to scale impact
- write and share tools via my newsletter.
You can read more about my approach below, learn more about my background here – or reach out if you'd like to explore a collaboration. Looking forward to it!
What has power to do with impact?
Currently, and on global scale, we are encouraged to think that impact is about purpose statements, KPIs to measure and alignment with agendas like the Sustainable Development Goals.
But it isn't.
"Impact" and "purpose" are used as positive terms, but they don't mean anything on their own. They are neutral. When you think about it – anything that has ever been done had a purpose and an impact. Even KPIs.
As shared in my last TEDx – I spent the last 10+ years leading projects in the impact and sustainability space, analysing thousands of projects and meeting purpose-driven leaders from all over the world. That is how I started to see that we frame "social and environmental challenges" as external threats or problems to solve.
But they aren't.
We can trace back every social and environmental challenge to one or another form of abuse of power: on nature, on each other or on ourselves.
They are not "challenges": they are the natural consequences of how we see ourselves, each other and the world. And of how we consequently choose to apply our power(s).
Which means that:
- we can't talk about impact, sustainability or purpose without looking at power first;
- if we don't question and rewire our (inherited) story or power, our well-intended impact strategies will unconsciously just re-create the same story;
- we can only rewire our relationship with power starting from the individual – therefore, from the realm of agency and leadership.
Without looking at Power (first) any impact conversation or strategy will be stuck on the branches, instead of doing the only thing that characterises long lasting impact and legacy: root work.
A final word.
I have been interested in power and agency since as long as I can remember. I recently wrote about it.
When I look at things today, it's clear that the game, pressure and fear-inducing narratives seem to only escalate – don't blame me, I didn’t write the rules of the 21st century. But I really enjoy hacking them.
You don't land on power, purpose and agency work because it's nice. You land on it because you struggled with it your entire life, until you eventually realise you can share your learnings with others.
It took me a decade to recognise that the established impact narrative tricks us into directing our attention and power towards conflict-based approaches and saviourism – the facto, hijacking our intention to build a better society and way to live on this planet.
That's why all of my programs have a strong focus on power our sense of agency. Because our idea of ourselves and the world around us determine our playing field. And what we can build on it.
The programs I offer are the result of my own 10+ years of direct experience combined with everything I wished existed when I was going through the work myself. I deliver them through what I call The Way of Nature: principles and tools informed by my decades of practice with cognitive sciences, ancestral traditions and my current collaboration with indigenous leaders.
You can see more of my background here or on my LinkedIn.
If you'd love to explore a collaboration, reach out.