Leading from Natural Intelligence ft. Mark Henderson
What happens when, in our work, self-development, and problem-solving, we start to partner with, and to some extent surrender to nature and its intelligence, which also runs through us if we allow it
Greetings from Berlin,
It feels like I was speaking with a part of me in today’s episode, as I was in conversation with Mark Henderson of Natural Intelligence. You’ll find some quotes by Mark describing what he means by natural intelligence and what “partnering with nature” looks like further.
But I’ll start with a brief story of my own, and my first encounters with natural intelligence. It started around two years ago as I joined a year-long wilderness guiding program just outside of Berlin.
The program was taught in the forest through immersion. As we arrived on the first day of the first module, the program facilitator promised us that in the course of the year, without him explicitly teaching anything to us, we would arrive at universal principles of life that humans, as much as forests, rivers, and mountains, have lived by for millennia.
Come true it did. Not as a big striking insight but through so many small things that started to happen to all of us.
The first thing that we became aware of was the magnetic force of the fire. Whenever there was unstructured time, most would gravitate towards the fire and find a place in a circle. Most would also feel an almost compulsive desire to tend to the fire, which felt like offering it respect and acknowledgement of its powerful presence.
As we would sit around the fire, the teaching and sharing would include the fire and also the circle. Things that would be said would mostly be mindful not only of where we were as individuals, but would emerge with and from the circle.
After a few days, as if on its own, there appeared a place where people started bringing things of beauty and curiosity, and spending time with them — an altar. Our habitual instinct of getting answers started to give way to staying with questions and being guided by them. Where there had been a tree before, there would be a being that invited us into a certain type of relating.
And so it went. Through a lightly guided process of (self) discovery we were sensing into principles of interconnectedness, of life’s cycles, and of being part of something larger that reveals itself when we slow down and pay attention.
These principles are well known by the world of naturalists, nature enthusiasts, spiritual community and many others. It feels like being taught and initiated by Mother Nature herself, just like that acorn Mark talks about below. And once initiated we step into a world of respect, reciprocity, receptivity to life around us, which naturally overflow onto work, relationships.
Yet, as many of us experience this type of knowing doesn’t carry a lot of weight in today’s world. In fact, I would say it’s not legitimised as a source of collective sensemaking, seen as something “good“, but on the fringe.
And it just gives me so much joy to talk to people who invite organizations and leaders into this deep knowing and natural intelligence that organically alters decisions, relationships and missions of those organizations.
We wonder during the conversation what happens when, in our work, self-development, and problem-solving, we start to partner with, and to some extent surrender to nature and its intelligence.
Mark shares how being in nature changes how we relate to life and how we see our own purpose, how it helps people connect at a deeper, more meaningful level, and lead from that space.
We also speak about the way we are used to think about work — and how it might be time to reimagine it.
Cheers to Mark’s work and now on to some of my favourite quotes.
Here are a few of my favourite quotes.
Intelligence Within Us
Mark Henderson:
“Natural intelligence — it’s that sense of something bigger, that sense of a guiding intelligence. It’s the intelligence that runs our own bodies, all the processes: the digestion, the blood system, the breathing. We do all these things without having to consciously manage them. So there’s an inherent intelligence within our body. And it’s the same intelligence that is in an acorn — the DNA, the blueprint within that acorn, enough to create a massive oak tree.
So it’s something that we can tune into, be guided by, and feel supported by. And that, for many of us, for the vast majority of us, requires a lot of trust. Dipping in and out of it, and failing, and trying again, and really developing a practice of trust — and letting go of the stories of scarcity, of lack, of limitation — and opening up to curiosity, which is a great driver of this.
Having that self-awareness and aligning ourselves back into curiosity and excitement about the potential of the day ahead. For example: who am I going to meet today? What might happen in that meeting? What am I going to learn? How am I going to develop? What synchronicity might point me in a certain direction along my purpose? That sort of mindset and state is an exciting place to be, and helps to keep us aligned along the path.”
Finding One’s Place
Mark Henderson:
I think absolutely, it’s about stepping back from the doing and what we talked about earlier, coming more into the being, which natural environments are the perfect place for us to do that through our senses.
But when we come to that place of being, we have a better opportunity to connect to our true selves. And that’s really a prerequisite for understanding ourselves enough and understanding our place in the world, our place on Earth.
Because I believe that we all have a unique place here.
And I often think about the likelihood of actually being born a human on earth is so small. There’s a story which describes this — if you imagine that in all the oceans of the world there is only one turtle, and you throw a life buoy into the water, and that one turtle in all the oceans sticks its head up through the life buoy, that is the same probability as you being born a human on earth.
So that really makes life so precious and leads to thinking, maybe it’s not just chance. Maybe I’m actually supposed to be here, and maybe I have a particular role to fulfil.
And it’s not about having a huge purpose. It’s about tuning into whatever fills you with passion, with enjoyment, and that your life has prepared you for. And by following that purpose, there is a kind of intelligence that can keep us active, well, and fulfilled throughout our lives.
Regenerative Leadership
Mark Henderson:
It’s very much a mindset — I would call it a regenerative leadership mindset. And I would describe that as the leader’s role to create, in themselves but also in their team and organization, the conditions for more life to emerge. It requires a humility, an openness, and again, a curiosity — to really explore that, and to see everybody in the team and the organization as a unique, very special being who has something unique to contribute to the common purpose.
So it requires a shift in how we think about culture within an organization. It requires us to really see and hear one another — at a very authentic level — to value everybody’s contribution, and to align each individual’s purpose, or help each individual to find meaning in the collective purpose of the organization.
And then something I recognized personally: even when everything was going really well — our turnover had almost doubled in a year, profitability was great — I remember, despite all that, feeling a sense of emptiness. Something was missing. And I realized it was this: we had just done it in the normal way that everybody does business. Business as usual.
And that’s when I started to realize I was moving away from what gave me meaning. I’m sure there are more and more leaders out there with successful businesses feeling that — yeah, but how can I make a bigger impact? — and not really understanding how. And that’s what I love to facilitate.
The Practice
Mark Henderson:
“It’s almost a process that I’ve identified — really translating that natural intelligence, that wisdom that’s there. The first thing that’s required is an awareness. How we can still our minds, attune to our senses, and land into a theta brainwave state — that open awareness and curiosity about what might be there. And it’s not a forcing. It’s more of a surrender to what is in the moment.
The next stage is really surrender — just letting go of limiting thoughts and beliefs. In our Western society, we’re very self-absorbed, and our culture encourages us to have a very strong identity. But that’s a bit of an illusion, because quantum physics shows us that we’re all connected — we’re all part of this natural intelligence, this bigger whole. So that’s where the practice comes in of letting go of those beliefs around separation, and surrendering to the natural intelligence, the oneness.
And then there’s the presence — being in the here and now, and realizing that I have a special place on Earth. I’m supposed to be here, and I can create my own life, my own reality, and be supported by everything else.
So there’s the awareness, the surrender, the presence — and then there’s the trust. That I understand my place in this bigger context, the instrument that I’m playing in the orchestra of life. I’m enough, and I have everything I need to step into that role.
And then it’s the continual practice — continually trusting the natural intelligence of oneself, and that part of natural intelligence that is us. Those are the five steps: awareness, surrender, presence, trust, and continual practice.”
Thank you for being here. I cherish your presence.
In love,
Yulya
About Mark Henderson
Mark Henderson is a keynote speaker, mentor, guide and NatureProcess Coach. With a background as a purpose-driven entrepreneur he advises and supports business leaders looking to step beyond ‘business as usual’ into an impactful, regenerative future.
Mark is co-founder of Natural Intelligence which partners with nature to support leaders, teams, and organisations to develop a regenerative mindset and capability—enabling them to lead positive societal and environmental change while creating conditions for people and systems to thrive.
Mark is also co-creator of the nature-inspired, online community for changemakers, Earthaconter. He talks about Natural Alchemy which is an immersive, community-based journey of self-awareness, shaped by nature’s rhythms rather than performance culture.
Natural Intelligence: https://www.naturalintelligence.se
Earthaconter: https://www.earthaconter.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmhenderson
Ways to further explore together:
Listen to the podcast:
The Breath of Life: featuring live conversations on Substack with people who are spreading aliveness and interconnectedness.
Life in Flow: exploring concepts fundamental to Flow in Life in improvised unedited conversations with two flow-co-creators.
Join me on monthly Nature Walks in Berlin!
Subscribe to my calendar for monthly invites:
WALk for work with your team!
I facilitate experiences in nature that help teams step out of routines and explore new ways of thinking, relating, and creating together.
DM me for a one-pager Nature Team Walks. yulia(at)natureflowlab.com
Thank you again for the conversation Yulia. Thank you too for sharing what happened in your group in nature. Isn’t it wonderful that many of can sense this inherent intelligence when we are outdoors? It feels like we remember a simpler way of understanding life and what gives us meaning.