“The Psychedelic CEO” is a metaphor for anyone who has explored a deep path of self-discovery, and has arrived at a broader understanding of what it means to be a heart-centered human leader in their own life.

From deep personal experience, I now believe that psychedelics, specifically Ayahuasca, when used safely with sacred intent, can be a powerful tool for self-development and in the creation of better leaders. Leaders who are Conscious, Empathetic, Open.  The current definitions of ‘achievement and success’, being primarily ego-driven and goal-oriented, are an overhang of the patriarchal, mechanistic mindset which has dominated mankind over the past 5 centuries.

I call this the ‘dinosaur mindset’, which drives us to be exceptional, as exemplified by the culture of the “CEO”. In its darkest form, this mindset is a forever rapacious desire to achieve, acquire, consume, and discard, oblivious to the looming conse­quences. But it is a mindset headed for extinction.

Humans are wounded. Leaders are human. Healed humans make better leaders.

In my career as an exploration geologist, company founder, and CEO, I have experienced  personal and corporate value creation and destruction. Failures were inevitably due to endemic fear, power and ego-driven behaviours (including my own!), lurking behind the guise of ‘leadership’.  

I believe strongly that the tools used by the leadership development industry, which include books, seminars, coaching, workshops and even therapy, often lack a fundamental element: they cannot fully overcome the wounds that are barriers to the deep self-knowledge that is required of true leadership. 

My lifetime journey towards my own truth lead me to explore ever deeper into the shamanic world of Amazon psychedelic plant medicine, Ayahuasca.  Over a two-week period in Costa Rica, I participated in 8 ceremonies totalling 3.5 full days in an altered state of consciousness.  During this extraordinary journey into the unknown, I was shown that the medicine could become a valuable tool for developing true leaders in business, and in life.   

It is my experience and belief that psychedelics, when experienced in a safe and sacred setting, can be readily adapted to and applied within the context of both personal and business leadership, with the goal being to bring our hearts, souls, and minds into a state of peace, harmony, creativity and wisdom.