From Coping to Thriving Amid Rising Complexity

On the back of a recent podcast conversation with author and regenerative practitioner Michelle Holliday I share her Foreword she wrote for my latest book Keys for Future-fit Leadership

FOREWORD, to Keys for Future-fit Leadership, by Michelle Holliday, Founder of Thrivable World & Author of The Age of Thrivability: Vital Perspectives and Practices for a Better World

What an honor it is to offer a foreword for this compilation of insights, illustrations and examples that Giles has developed and gathered over the years. And what a joy to celebrate the profound influence and impact he has had through this work.

I’ve had a special perspective on the evolution of Giles’s work. In parallel paths for the past two decades and more, we’ve each dedicated ourselves to ushering in a life-aligned worldview in which organizations are recognized and stewarded as living ecologies. For both of us, this has taken the shape of research, writing, facilitation and speaking. I wrote a glowing testimonial for his first book in 2012 and cheered him on for each successive one. And he wrote a kind endorsement for mine, The Age of Thrivability, in 2016. What I have valued most in this mutual journey is the courage I took from his presence and his spirited, compelling voice in the early days when there were still few of us speaking the language of this emerging worldview.

Now, ‘Regenerative Leadership’ has become almost mainstream, in no small part thanks to Giles. And I appreciate that, with this book, he’s bringing renewed focus to the idea of ‘future-fitness.’ Just as I propose with the concept ‘thrivability’, the invitation is to cultivate the individual and organizational capacity to participate intentionally in life’s ability to thrive. It is to embrace complexity and change in service of ‘a progressive developmental vitality,’ as he writes. ‘A living learning fitness.’ 

In championing new language and concepts, Giles’s work stands out with the gift of its many accessible, even delightful illustrations—this book contains well over a hundred of them, most published for the first time. A compact image is often better able to convey these holistic concepts than words alone can. My sense is that the illustrations also speak to a different part of our brains through art, beauty and synthesis rather than analysis. Then the rational mind has permission to open up to new patterns of thought and identity.

With this combination of vital concepts and accompanying images, I love how Giles speaks so clearly to the ‘creative ingenuity’ and ‘the inherent desire of the entrepreneurial business mind to seek to thrive.’ Building on this innate urge and orientation, he invites us to go deeper, to aspire to more of what is truly needed. It reminds me of my own fascination with the etymology of the word ‘entrepreneur.’ Those with some knowledge of French may assume that it means ‘take between-er’ or ‘middleman.’ But that is too simple and transactional an interpretation. In fact, the word comes from the Latin ‘inter prehendere,’ which means to take hold of something with both hands in the interest of both responsibility and mastery. There is a sense of adventure in the full etymology. There is craftsmanship implicit in such an endeavor. And there is also generosity. The entrepreneur undertakes something on behalf of the community—with the community and with life itself—in service of the common good. This is the spirit of the relatively new concept of ‘social entrepreneurship’, but the social implications are, in fact, baked into the word ‘entrepreneur’ itself. This is the fullness of what Giles evokes through his work.

Becoming such an entrepreneur—such a life-aligned business leader and practitioner—is more a philosophy and practice of personal and organizational development than it is a prescription of operational tactics. As Giles writes, it is an individual and collective process of engaging with ‘life as it really is—participatory and connective.’ It is cultivating the organization as a learning ecology and a practice ground for a more thrivable world, as I would say.

When we dedicate ourselves to this practice, brilliance and benefit emerge that no one could have predicted. As the stories in following pages show, this work promises remarkable outcomes in which:

•    Workers and customers experience more vitality, joy, justice, learning, self-expression and self-awareness;

•   The organization achieves its intended purpose creatively, gracefully and resiliently, while attracting necessary resources;

• The community discovers more connectedness, creativity, resilience and self-reliance;

•   The larger ecologies we’re part of are supported in their ability to be healthy and regenerative over time.

 Indeed, a word I hear often in this work is ‘healing.’ This is perhaps a synonym—and the deeper promise—of regeneration.

In all, Giles’s work and this book are examples of the very thing he is advocating: creating a generous, generative field where people can learn, relationships can blossom, ideas can grow, new things become possible, and life can flourish at every level. With this as his seventh book and with a steady stream of social media posts, interviews, podcasts and gatherings, Giles is nothing if not prolific. There’s real generosity in it, and even infectious energy that rallies people around this work. And in the pages that follow, he has brought in other voices to share their stories, which has encouraged more than a few to start their own book-writing projects. Like fertile soil, new, unimagined, life-aligned things are growing from this space. And Giles is a thoughtful, skilful gardener.

As the world becomes more complex, your success in life and work will increasingly depend on your ability to tend to the core patterns and principles Giles describes. And our ability to navigate humanity’s mounting crises will depend on our collective practice of stewarding life in these ways. Our best hope is that many more of us take up this book’s invitation to ‘seek life-affirming futures—working toward harmony with the evolutionary dynamics of nature to enable our future generations, and all life on Earth, to thrive.’

As I wrote in my own book:

‘When we truly acknowledge the life in and around us and our ability to create the conditions for life to thrive, new visions of reality become apparent: new possibilities, new goals, new priorities and new actions. In embracing the perspectives this story of thrivability offers, we become more active and intentional participants in life’s process. And along the way, we find a path to richer meaning, to greater compassion, to more effective collaboration, to healthy regeneration and renewal, and to more thriving, in all senses of the word.

Ultimately, if we are to navigate increasing complexity successfully… if we are to bridge the many fragmented approaches to sustainability and corporate social responsibility… if we are to solve the persistent problems of poverty, environmental degradation and conflict… and, indeed, if our species is to survive, it is precisely such an expanded lens and inspired approach that is needed.’

My gratitude to Giles—and to you for reading, for opening your heart to a life-filled world, and for exploring what this book’s impassioned invitation means for you.

HOT OFF THE PRESS – latest book: Keys for Future-fit Leadership

 ‘Keys for Future-fit Leadership is nothing short of revolutionary—a compass for our times, providing the formula humanity urgently needs to navigate the seismic shifts we face.’   Marc Buckley, Founder ALOHAS Regenerative Foundation

‘Giles doesn’t just share his wisdom with the invigorating charm of a natural breeze—he embodies nature itself. He reminds us of our deep connection to the natural world, a bond we’ve neglected to our own detriment. Knowing Giles is like rediscovering the path back to nature.’  Lucy Cleland, Editorial Director, Country & Town House

Keys for Future-fit leadership can be found through major book channels or purchased directly from the sustainable/ethical publisher here: https://www.wordzworth.com/sales/authorbooks?ISBN=9781783243532

 Next Deep-dive Immersion on Future Fit leadership is 8th/9th September – see more details here: https://thenatureofbusiness.org/2025/04/15/keys-for-future-fit-leadership-8th-9th-sept-immersion/

'The nature immersion with Giles exceeded all expectations.  This is real space to develop strategies fit for the 21st century.' - Stephen Passmore, CEO, Resilience Alliance

This two-day overnight deep-dive is for leaders and practitioners who wish to gain an embodied experience of Future-fit Leadership and also apply tools for activating Regenerative Leadership Consciousness in their own work and lives. The immersion will provide advanced techniques and frameworks for your own work as a leader and for practitioners/coaches working with clients/leaders and Future-fit L&OD (leadership & organizational development).

‘Feel I’ve been with a real master. What beautiful profound lessons’. - Simon Milton, CEO of Pulse Brands

For more details see: https://thenatureofbusiness.org/2025/04/15/keys-for-future-fit-leadership-8th-9th-sept-immersion/

‘Giles is a visionary and guide for anyone exploring the journey toward Future-fit/Regenerative Business. He's been called a wise medicine man for our time and a magician of consciousness. When you are with Giles you get why these words are apt.’  Jannine Barron, Founder of The Growth Experience

To book for 8th/9th September Immersion or explore 121 Coaching with Giles contact him via his website https://gileshutchins.com/

To sign-up for free content, newsletters & whitepapers go to https://gileshutchins.com/newsletter-subscribe/

See a short 2min video about the latest book Keys for Future-fit Leadership here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjQ6s80ewNU&list=PL4fiSooXivB7D83ut1Igssgg0xZcf-mGN&index=34