“One of the systems errors that we as humans tend to make, is to think that people who think like us are smart and people who don’t think like us are not – and actually nature shows us over and over again that the most resilient ecosystems are the ones with the greatest diversity of species.” ~ Nina Simons
E81 – NINA SIMONS ON LEADERSHIP, DIVERSITY AND RESTORING THE FEMININE
NATURE, CULTURE AND THE SACRED: LISTENING FOR LEADERSHIP
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About this interview:
How can we restore the feminine within ourselves and society in order to lead from our hearts?
In this episode, Amisha connects with award-winning social entrepreneur and visionary thinker Nina Simons. Nina is the Co-Founder and Chief Relationship Strategist of Bioneers, a nonprofit organisation that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and the planet.
Nina speaks about what she has witnessed, experienced, and learned over 30 years of working with change-makers and activists. She shares how her understanding of leadership has shifted and evolved, and how we can cultivate in ourselves and our society the kind of leadership our times are calling for.
Nina believes we must reclaim the wholeness of our humanity – as social creatures who thrive in community – and let our guard down to feel. She speaks about learning to lead from the heart rather than the mind by decolonising our inner world, learning to value difference, feeling our communal challenges, and prioritising the love that can carry us through them.
Nina speaks about her own process of emerging and awakening – peeling away layers of conditioning that came through systems of patriarchy, neoliberalism, capitalism, and racism. She shares some of the practises, tools, and ways of being that have supported her to do this, and some of the most formative and influential relationships and collaborations that have shaped her work and ways of being in the world.
Together Nina and Amisha discuss the importance of ritual, how to build, sustain, and grow with relationships, and reclaiming the feminine in ourselves and in our cultures. They enquire into the nature of activism – how we can each find our individual assignment and role in these times, and what – if anything – is truly worth dying for.
“I aspire to live in a way that gives me a full toolkit, and access to an entire spectrum of my human capacities. If you imagine them as a spectrum of masculine to feminine, or feminine to masculine – I want to have access to everything I’ve got all the time. What better way to meet a time of challenge and turbulence than to have access to all of our human capacities?” ~ Nina Simons
Nina Simons is an award winning social entrepreneur and visionary thinker. In 1990, she co-founded Bioneers with her husband and partner, Kenny Ausubel. As cofounder, she created the Everywoman’s Leadership program, and has helped to lead years of identifying, gathering and disseminating breakthrough innovations that reveal a positive and life-honoring future that’s within our grasp, today.
Nina’s work currently focuses on writing and teaching about women, leadership, diversity, systems thinking and restoring the feminine in us all. She leads workshops, speaks widely, consults and hosts convenings that create the conditions for transformative awakenings. Nina edited the anthology, Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart, which contains 30 essays by over 40 contributors, who collectively help to redefine the leadership landscape. The book is being used by educators in college and graduate-school classrooms and has garnered passionate and positive reviews. Her new book is Nature, Culture and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership, which won two Nautilus Awards upon publication, one in the category of women, and the other in social justice.
To find out more about Nina visit ninasimons.com
To connect or work with Amisha, visit amisha.co.uk
Resources and links from this episode:
- Nina’s recent book – Nature, Culture and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership
- Bioneers
- Amisha shaves her head for Womankind Worldwide
- Womankind Worldwide
- Destination Arts
- Deborah Eden Tull – Relational Mindfulness
- Rachel Bagby
- Dawna Markova
- Eve Ensler – The Apology
- Deena Metzger
- Extinction illness
- Tikkun Magazine
- Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Earth Guardians
- Greta Thunberg
- Drew Dellinger
Connect more with us:
- Beautiful Leadership mentoring
- Amisha’s One-to-One sessions
- Amisha’s book – INTUITION
- all that we are membership
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