How to become a better leader

In his latest book, Leading by Nature, author Giles Hutchins peels back the toxic leadership traits and practices that have stymied progress towards a sustainable world to reveal a model that can hopefully expedite the transition.

Giles, who has written several books on the evolving nature of leadership and work, has a wealth of expertise gained in roles as a senior strategist at corporate giants, including KPMG and Atos.

Working in these environments taught Giles that sometimes old habits really do die hard and the experience made him restless to do more to bring about change. Bestselling books, dynamic new companies and projects followed, and today the success of that journey sees him asked to speak at events worldwide, as a new generation of young leaders, on a mission to help create a resilient and sustainable planet, look for the inside track on how they can do it.

“We are malleable, we are plastic, we are open, we are conscious, emotional, cognitive, spiritual beings,” Giles says. “And much of the time we are woefully unaware of our potency and impact, and our ability to be programmed.”

This process of being programmed, he says, is something we should be actively engaged with.

“Unlearning and relearning is in itself a bit of an evolution because it’s always here, always has been and always will be. So we’re not actually inviting in a whole host of new things for us to equip ourselves with, we’re just opening our eyes.”

As well as being the chair of The Future Fit Leadership Academy, founder of Leadership Immersions, and co-founder of Biomimicry for Creative Innovation and Regenerators, Giles also runs an international leadership centre at Springwood Farm, an area of outstanding natural beauty near London.

It is a truly stunning setting where people go and learn to “get back in tune so that they can feel the heartbeat of the universe again”, something Giles is a passionate advocate for.

For a unique take on the role of leadership listen to Giles explain all on the latest episode of the Inside Ideas podcast.