Leadership beyond extraction
In my conversation on DO Radio the other week, we explored the idea that the dominant neoliberal model has reached a stage of what might be called “toxic entropy” - fuelling not only ecological breakdown, but social fragmentation and spiritual exhaustion too.
The conversation kept bringing us back to the consequences of what I describe as extractive culture.
Extractive cultures ask: How much can we take? How fast can we grow? How efficiently can we optimise human beings for performance?
Yet this endless acceleration, consumption and competition is not making us any wiser, healthier or happier. So what do we place alongside, or beyond, the extractive worldview?
For me, part of the answer lies in recovering older understandings of interdependence, responsibility and stewardship, while also developing new forms of ecosystemic intelligence suited to the complexity of modern life.
✨ The Ethics of Care.
✨ Indigenous traditions of stewardship.
✨ Everyday spirituality.
✨ Communities built around contribution rather than extraction.
Regenerative cultures ask: What helps people, communities and ecosystems stay alive, connected and capable of renewal?
Perhaps the future will depend less on domination and more on our capacity to recognise that everything matters because everything is connected.
These are some of the conversations at the heart of Spirit at Work - a transpersonal leadership coaching programme for those seeking more reflective, ethical and regenerative ways of leading and working.