Redefining our Boardroom: Embracing Nature’s Wisdom
Imagine a place where business decisions are made, not in the office but in the nurturing embrace of nature. How would this affect your impact and your approach to business?
That was my thinking when I created an experience in 2021 that I called Nature’s Boardroom. I realised that if nature and its 3.8 billion-year wisdom really did have the answers, I needed to spend more time there than in my office. The potential benefits for business success were too inspiring to overlook.
When I found the grove of oak trees in Wilshire pictured below, not far from where I lived in a small village through lockdown, the wind carried in a flood of intuition and insight that changed me forever. The leaves spoke wisdom, and the trunks of the trees held firm in their messages and boundaries with me. So the question came to me — if this was happening to me, could this work for other business leaders?
I returned to these trees most weeks that year until I understood exactly what I had to do next.
Fast-forward to today, when I have taken over 100 business leaders on this experience of nature connection that I call Nature’s Boardroom in locations from Yorkshire to Scotland, Wiltshire to Suffolk.
Everyone leaves the experience with a different version of the same outcomes. They recognise the inherent unity between themselves and the natural world, and their approach to business and decision-making is forever transformed.
What is a Nature’s Boardroom?
A Nature’s Boardroom is a sanctuary where business leaders can retreat from the bustle of an office. These leaders and business owners make decisions every day in the office with their minds. In Nature’s Boardroom, we introduce the idea of decision-making with the two bigger brains in our body — our hearts and gut. This emerges effortlessly when leaders immerse themselves in natural spaces with a guided experience. These experiences range from a single day to an overnight stay or even a week-long retreat.
But what is it really like to take part in such an experience?
The Essence of Connection
At its core, a Nature’s Boardroom is about understanding that there is no separateness between us and the natural world. This realisation can fundamentally change how we approach business decisions, embedding them with a sense of interconnectedness, rather than a standard ESG approach.
Nature’s Boardroom is a Regenerative Business Practice. It’s what separates sustainable businesses from regenerative businesses.
Nature-connected leaders (Regenerative Business Leaders!) make strategic decisions under the canopy of ancient trees, brainstorm solutions by a tranquil stream, and find clarity in the quiet of a meadow. These settings do more than relax the mind; they open it to new possibilities and deeper understandings.
As we embrace this connection, we see our businesses not just as isolated entities but as integral parts of a larger ecosystem. This perspective fosters innovative and sustainable practices and a profound, renewed sense of purpose and resilience. It’s the first step in a regenerative approach to work, life and business.
Reflections from Nature’s Boardroom.
We have collected data over recent years and found patterns in the feedback. No matter what the size of a business, from sole trader to founder to company leader, Nature’s Boardroom ignites a profound change in decision-makers that is directly affecting the health of our planet.
Here are some of the patterns in feedback that we are seeing.
🌳 Courage to Make Unconventional Decisions: Being in nature fosters bold thinking. “We feel more confident in making innovative decisions that they might have shied away from in a more conventional setting.”
🌳 Empathy and Patience from Leadership: The calming effect of nature allows for a greater understanding of needs and challenges within themselves and their teams.
🌳 Innovative Solutions: Sustainable and innovative solutions seem to come naturally. The environment sparks creativity and a sense of possibility that can lead to groundbreaking ideas.
🌳 Strategic Alignment: There is a clear alignment between vision and action. Nature’s simplicity helps strip away the noise, allowing for a direct connection to core business goals.
🌳 Mental Clarity, Better Decisions, and Creative Thinking: The tranquillity of nature seems to enhance mental clarity. Better decisions and creative solutions are often the result of this serene environment.
🌳 Energised and Focused Approach: Teams return to work with renewed energy and focus. The connections formed in nature strengthen collaborations across all levels of the organisation.
🌳 Profound Self-Understanding: Insights into their personal and professional selves that no book can provide. This deep self-awareness informs their leadership in transformative ways. “I look to books normally for this kind of insight and transformation, this is a better way to get the knowledge”
🌳 A Renewed and Shared Sense of Purpose: Participants often leave with a strengthened sense of unity within their teams. The shared experience in nature helps to align their missions and values in ways that traditional office settings rarely achieve.
🌳 Resilience and Hope: The experience fosters resilience and inspires a hopeful outlook on the future, a sentiment that is often hard to find in today’s fast-paced business world.
🌳 Clarity: The Yes and the No arrive effortlessly.
An Invitation to Transform
This interconnectedness with nature and all life is the magic of a resilient and purpose-driven life and business in our times. Accompanied by leadership coaching on Zoom, this hybrid business support approach provides a practical pathway for a business leader seeking a regenerative approach.
We have locations in Suffolk, Wiltshire, Wales, Scotland and Yorkshire and are always adding new locations based on your needs.
If you are a landowner, we recommend a bespoke experience that reconnects you to your land.
So let me leave you with a question “ If you knew for certain that you were connected to all life — How would this change your business decisions?
Emily from Hollow & Hill about to Cross a Threshold
