Regenerative Leadership Lessons from The Way: Come walk the Camino de Santiago with me.
For as long as I can remember, I had the Camino de Santiago on my “list.” The question was never if, but when. Taking that much time away from work and family is difficult. I finally found that window in October 2018 when a transition in my job enabled me to walk the Camino. Leaving my 7-year-old son was the hardest thing of all. And yet, having recently crossed into my fifties, I felt compelled to go — to walk, breathe, pray and reflect and to renew myself for the second half of my life.
What is the Camino? A Journey of Remembering
The Camino de Santiago or “Way of St. James” is a network of pilgrims’ pathways leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of Saint James are buried.
People walk the Camino for a lot of different reasons. For many, it is one long walking prayer in veneration of St. James. For others, including me, it was concentrated time dedicated to personal regeneration.
A pilgrimage is many things, but it is first a journey of remembering, remembering your truest self, your place in the world and the universe, and your relationship with the Divine. These remembrances form the basis for regenerative healing of ourselves and those around us. A pilgrim’s journey, or “pilgrimage” is not just a hike, though any walk or hike can be made into a pilgrimage, with intention.
“Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see. Every breath we take, every step we take, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
Popes and Kings and Saints have walked the path as well as millions of ordinary people like me. A pilgrimage is a journey, typically into an unknown place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about oneself, others, nature, or a higher good through the experience. It often leads to personal epiphanies, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life transformed. While a “pilgrimage” may seem linear (it’s just a trail, right?), there’s little that is linear about it.
After a long, beautiful first day on the Camino and a walk 15 miles (24 km) up over the Pyrenees from St. Jean Pied de Port in France to Roncevalles in Spain via the 500+ mile Camino Frances (the most traditional route, also known as the French Way), I arrived and found refuge in a beautifully restored historic building solely for “Peregrinos” (Pilgrims). The Albergue de Peregrinos Orreaga-Roncasvalles in Spain is run by Catholic volunteers, most of whom have walked the Camino themselves and have decided this is how they want to contribute to a better world, helping “Peregrinos’’ get off to a good and meaningful start to their walk.
This is truly a magical place, with a mesmerizing combination of history and modernity, simplicity and convenience, austerity and beauty. After a welcome shower, I spent my first evening on the Camino eating a simple pilgrim’s meal and attending a Blessing Mass at the Iglesia de Santa Maria near the Albergue. Later I found like-minded pilgrims who felt equally compelled to sing, and we filled the echoing halls of the ancient Albergue with what we could remember of different sacred choral pieces and chants. I then crawled into my little sleep pod, feeling almost like a monk of old, deeply joyful and satisfied, as if the Universe had fully embraced me in the first steps of my journey.
I opened my eyes to sun streaming in the ancient windows and smiled. I was awoken by the Catholic volunteers who, instead of an alarm clock or gong, walked the hallways chanting “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia” and “San-ti-a-go, Saaaant-ti-AH-go, San-TEE’ee-ahah-go” to the tune of the Gregorian plainchant Gospel Acclamation — Alleluia Mode VI to get the Pilgrims up and on their way. Even now, I can think of no quicker way to be transported into this Holy and sacred experience and fully embraced on the Camino than those first 24 hours. The journey of remembering had begun, and even the most seemingly mundane elements of being became sacred — washing, eating, singing, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face.
What can the Camino teach us today?
What can an ancient Christian pilgrimage possibly teach human beings today? How does something so esoteric even belong on LinkedIn — or matter at all? Well, this moment in human history demands the best that each of us can bring, starting with ourselves. Each of us has a vital role to play in ensuring society can survive and thrive at every level, where the choices each of us make have an overall positive effect on the patterns or systems of which we’re a part. We must be the change we want to manifest in the world. If we want to be the kind of leaders who usher in a better future for humanity and all living things, one that is just, equitable, and regenerative, it has to start with ourselves.
Walking the Camino enabled me to live and breathe regenerative principles, with the lessons learned (and remembered) along The Way as useful to me then as they are everyday as a human being and as a leader. In these turbulent times, when healing and wholeness are needed more than ever, is it any wonder that the term “regenerative” is being bandied about ad nauseum, to the point of co-optation and overuse? When you put this in the context of the degenerative practices that currently dominate our society, you can see why the Camino as an experience and as paradigm-shifting term as “regenerative” have as much if not more relevance today than ever. “Regeneration” as a concept is nothing short of miraculous, not only in how it works but in its outcomes. If you’re new to this idea, check out this elegantly simple video developed by Leaders’ Quest that explains what Regenerative means, and the steps each of us can take toward leaving things even better than we found them.
It’s one thing to understand regeneration intellectually, but it’s a whole other thing to develop an embodied understanding of it. That’s what the Camino was for me. Below I share six lessons from my walk that may help you embody a Regenerative way of leading and living:
- Remember your Wholeness
- Remember your Essence
- Remember your Potential
- Remember you are a Work in Progress
- Remember you are Integral
- Remember you can Change the World
Remember your Wholeness
Burnout, exhaustion, isolation are manifestations of the kind of modern-day fragmentation that separates us from one another, from our family, from our community, and from connection to the Divine. It’s that fragmentation that also sabotages our well-being and begins to unravel the threads holding ourselves and our civilization together.
When I stepped on the Camino in 2018, I admit I was exhausted. Regardless of the circumstances that led me to that state, it was a powerful reality for me. I remember people close to me telling me my “light had gone out.” I felt weary, fragmented, alone, and at any moment ready to ball my eyes out! This state of fragmentation was both real — and an illusion! A Regenerative mindset helps us remember that we are healthy and complete, as we are.
One of the speediest paths to remembering my Wholeness and the sacredness of life comes through singing, sacred choral music in particular. But in a pinch, almost any singing will do, even gibberish to the beat of my footfall. I spent a good portion of my walk singing, sometimes listening to and singing with Gregorian chant, sometimes remembering music I’d sung in choral groups throughout my life, or an occasional pop song or 1940s tune.
>> A Regenerative mindset sees living beings, including ourselves, in their wholeness, not in fragments. What helps you remember your Wholeness? For me it’s singing. For others, it’s time in nature or in prayer, or walking, or being in deep relationship with another human or animal.
2. Remember your Essence
The fragmentation of modern society means we often lose sight of the true nature of the world. When I see someone or something’s true Essence, I see it in its fullness and totality. I am unique — and enough — in the fullness of my past, reality, and potential.
“There is nothing to prove and nothing to protect. I am who I am and it’s enough.” — Richard Rohr, Falling Upward
Preparing for and walking the Camino are powerful ways to remember the pure essence of all things. How? By stripping away the extraneous trappings of life. Walking the Camino demands an embrace of the bare necessities of life. Whittled down to what I can carry on my back, it enables the veil between our perceived reality and Truth to thin and eventually disappear altogether. The philosopher Martin Buber offered the distinction between the I–Thou relationship and the I–It relationship. I-It relationships see others in parts and fragments, dissecting and objectifying. I-Thou relationships are about connecting with another’s essence, whether it be with a human, an animal, a tree, or even a rock. Walking the Camino is mindfulness in motion. Reality slows and the Essence, the true nature of things, comes into our awareness.
>> A Regenerative mindset, through simplicity and presence, enables us to see our own and others’ Essence. What helps you remember the Essence of yourself and all things? For me, it’s mindfulness that comes through moving meditation like walking. For others, it’s eye contact with another living being. Still others find it through yoga, lying beneath the stars or helping someone in need.
3. Remember your Potential
Everything, in its unique essence, has potential. As we navigate life, especially those of us in business or “management,” we see the world in terms of problems that need to be fixed, fragments of reality and dis-integration. A step beyond that is seeing the “ideal version,” but this “ideal” is often clouded by our own beliefs and biases.
Seeing true potential involves dropping our ego and witnessing the fullest expression of the essence in front of you. Imagine yourself walking through life seeing all things in their fullest, most beautiful manifestation! Optimism and commitment to make things better are empty without the capacity to envision possibilities, to truly see how things could be.
Walking the Camino, I saw this Principle at play every day. Often, dusty, rock-strewn, seemingly inconsequential spots were painstakingly transformed into art pieces and sanctuaries along the trail, through years of intention and action by Pilgrims passing by. The Pilgrims didn’t see a dusty desolate nowhere, they saw each spot as an opportunity for beauty and inspiration. So too, I had waking visions of how my life at home could bloom into its fullness upon my return from the Camino.
>> A Regenerative mindset calls upon us to cultivate our capacity to envision the full and exquisite potential in all things. We often laud “visionaries” for their ability to paint a vivid picture of what can be, but we all have that gift. Things are only “broken” or fragmented if we allow ourselves to only see them that way. It’s a choice. The Camino helped me tap into this mindset and choice by stripping away distractions to allow me to bring wholeness and essence into focus as the source of true potential, whether it be a dusty spot on the trail or in my own life. What helps you tap into your gift of envisioning what could be?
4. Remember you are a “Work in Progress”
Only through self-development can we reach our potential. To envision a healthy, whole, better world, we need to have robust practice in our inner world, consciously building on our wholeness and essence towards our fullest potential. If we don’t, our ability to regenerate outer systems will be limited.
The Camino shows us how we were and are “Always on The Way” — always in a state of progression and always seeking to remember our truest essence, recognizing our perfection in our own imperfections — a work-in-progress. The phrase is literally written on signs and reminders along the Camino: “No olvides: siempre has estado en el camino.”
A big element of a Regenerative mindset is to see that challenges along The Way — losses, “failures,” shocks — make a regenerative person (or organization) better. A shock or big life challenge enables a person to rebound by building the capacity to do and be more than it was able to before.
Every day on the Camino put obstacles in my way, whether it was blistered feet, downpours, or blistering sun. And every day, I’d learn a new way to face the obstacles and get back on the trail, recommitting to just put one foot in front of the other. This was a very low risk environment to really internalize the fundamental notion that “failures” are our best teachers. I went on the Camino still wrestling with a previous business failure. It was only in walking the Camino that I was finally able to see that experience, painful as it was at the time, for the tremendous life lessons and resilience it gifted me.
>> A Regenerative mindset encourages us to always be working on a better version of ourselves, through development of our self-knowledge, skills, emotional intelligence, and spiritual awareness. How do you push your own boundaries towards a better version of yourself? How can you use “failures” and obstacles as your greatest teachers?
5. Remember you are Integral
To be “integral” means that you are an essential part of the whole. You are not only NOT separate from the whole, you are an essential part of it.
“We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
The first book I listened to while walking the Camino was “The Pilgrimage” by Paolo Coelho. His enchanting account of walking The Way to Santiago was my doorway into understanding that I was an integral part of millions of other people’s personal stories of walking the Camino who came before me. History is tightly woven into every step on the Camino. I was not separate from these stories and people, I was and remain an integral part of them.
One afternoon, I noticed a well-worn side path that broke away from the main Camino in the foothills of the Pyrenees between the village of Zubiri and Pamplona. Where does that lead, I wondered? And then I saw some other Pilgrims take it. I followed them down a narrow path to a beautiful ancient chapel, The Abbey of Eskirotz and Ilarratz. Over the 1000+ years of the Camino’s existence, the trail itself would sometimes be rerouted, whether through politics and desire for personal gain or war or natural changes to the landscape. If it weren’t for the efforts of a Pilgrim who’d stumbled upon and fell in love with the little church, this ancient Templar gem would have been lost to history. This dedicated Pilgrim left his lucrative busines career, sold his worldly belongings, and rededicated his life to reviving this little church, raising funds to restore it so that it may offer support to pilgrims walking the Camino. He’s even lobbied to get the church put back on the main path of the Camino. These are the kind of stories that infuse every step on the Camino. Legends, lores, mysteries, martyrs all intertwine. Past, Present, and Future blend across time and reality and are all integral parts of the whole.
“Faith does not need to push the river because faith is able to trust that there is a river. The river is flowing. We are in it.” — Richard Rohr, Falling Upward
>> A Regenerative mindset helps us remember that we are an integral part of something incomprehensibly more vast than ourselves. At a simple, practical level, we are very intimately connected with the rest of the universe in that our bodies actually do contain atoms that were forged in stars. If we consider it from a spiritual standpoint, some believe that we were formed in the image of God — or that we are each a spark of the Divine Consciousness. Through the lens of Quantum entanglement, where particles remain connected regardless of distance, we’re reminded again that our separateness is an illusion. All signs point to the notion of Oneness, the inherent interconnectedness of all that exists.
“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars…We are made of starstuff.” — Carl Sagan
6. Remember you can Change the World
We all know that big planetary problems require solutions at scale. But the reality is that your work in the world must necessarily be small and local. Individuals don’t work at scale. If you think of your existence as a node is a vast energetic ecosystem filled with other nodes, your work in the world is about having the greatest influence you can from and on your local node. Living systems work with energy-filled nodes where a set of nodes come together and can be engaged to affect the whole.
It was in slowing down long enough in 2018 to breathe and remember myself that I saw clearly that my “highest and best use” with my remaining years was to focus on what I could do personally to “bend the curve” on climate. As an individual, I can’t change the climate, but I can change myself and influence (read: help, inspire, teach, have an effect on) my colleagues, partners, and community, and acting in collaboration with others, I can thereby influence the larger ecosystem and climate that we’re all an integral part of. Only mobilized and energized together can we bring about a zero carbon future.
Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
About halfway through my walk to Santiago, I’d developed horrible blisters. Having hiked many trails throughout my life, I thought I had “foot management” down to a science. Truth be told, the fact that I’d covered that much ground without a blister was something. A long, blistering hot day of hiking and the blisters finally got me. They hurt like hell, and truthfully I was considering throwing in the towel. A Peregrina from Venezuela saw my plight and took great time and care on a bench at an albergue that afternoon to share her foot management secrets with me. All while telling stories and making me laugh. Why would she do that? Because she could. She knew her sphere of influence and that with some simple kindness, she could greatly help someone else, and she did. Her little foot secrets were ones I shared with many others along the Camino in the weeks ahead.
“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.” — Mother Teresa
When we think about working with the outside world, we think about direct cause and effect. Transactions and negotiation are traditional direct methods to get what we want. But what if we want to change whole systems? A transactional approach, in its inherent fragmentation, is not going to get us there. Shifting an entire ecosystem requires a far more subtle approach where our influence is on the unseen rather than the seen to create an energetic shift in the field.
“Fields…are organized patterns of energy that influence and respond to the quality of activity occurring within a system. This implies that if we want to affect a system, the way to do so is by working on the energy field that is organizing it. Fields are one of the underlying conditions that make it possible to transform a whole system through a single nodal intervention.” — Carol Sanford, The Regenerative Life
In my current work with Leaders’ Quest and TED to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis through the global TED Countdown initiative, we consciously avoid the fragmented thinking that focuses on “problems” but rather strive to reframe the “narrative” towards accelerating solutions to the climate crisis that already exist, celebrating progress over perfection, and lifting up stories of courageous leadership and unprecedented collaboration to drive exponential progress at speed and scale. This is effectively “field-building” and is fundamentally regenerative in its approach and execution. We are consciously shifting the energy field around climate, from one of “doom and gloom” and fatalism to one of optimism and possibility.
>> A Regenerative Mindset helps us recognize and use our spheres of influence to have powerful positive impacts that go way beyond our own seemingly insignificant actions. What are your spheres of influence? How would you describe the energy field that binds them together with others in the ecosystem? How can you use your spheres of influence with others to shift the field to create a better tomorrow?
This is The Way
Walking the Camino was an unparalleled opportunity for me to remember myself as perfect in my imperfection and my power to heal myself and help create a better world.
For Pilgrims, it’s customary to attach a scallop shell to your backpack as a symbol while on the walk. Its lines represent the different routes traveled by Pilgrims from around the world, which all lead to one point, the tomb of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela. The scallop shell can be found on the milestone markers, guiding pilgrims in the right direction. And when you return home, the scallop shell can become your daily reminder that you’re on the right track.
You don’t need to walk the Camino de Santiago to remember these things or to integrate Regenerative mindsets and practices into your life. You are already a Pilgrim of Earth, where as Thich Naht Hanh says, peace can be in every step. You are already on The Way. You’ve always been on The Way.
To walk on the Good Earth, to breathe deeply, to pray and break bread and laugh with fellow Pilgrims, to rest your weary soul in the love and gentle care of the Divine, to sing out loud to the rhythm of your footfall because if you don’t your heart will burst, to recall your truest self as a child of God, to arrive safe and sound at the end of the Road and, transformed by grace, to return safely to your home filled with joy and gratitude. This is the Camino.
About Leaders’ Quest
Experts in purpose-led change management, leadership development, and c-suite advisory, Leaders’ Quest (LQ) is a boutique global consultancy known for its signature “Quests” that inspire and equip leaders to build a more equitable and regenerative future — and for its pioneering collaborations such as TED Countdown and Count Us In. LQ’s alchemy is in bringing different worlds together to partner to advance meaningful change. Our work ranges from helping CEOs to align profit with purpose to facilitating cross-sector collaboration towards solutions to the defining challenges of the 21st century. Learn more at www.leadersquest.org
About the Author
A passionate business leader, strategist, and entrepreneur, Kim is a Partner at Leaders’ Quest. She has worked for over two decades to harness the power of business to advance an equitable and regenerative future for humanity and our planet. Prior to Leaders’ Quest, Kim served as a senior global executive in the B Corp movement where she co-led the largest mobilization of companies in history committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Prior to B Lab, Kim co-founded and served as CEO of GoLite, a mission-driven outdoor products brand and one of the earliest Certified B Corps. She also served as Chairperson of the Board of the Outdoor Industry Association; Principal at The Parthenon Group (now Parthenon EY); and as an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Kim holds MBA and MPA degrees from Harvard, an AB Cum Laude from Princeton, and attended Oxford University as a Rotary Foundation Graduate Scholar. Kim spends her free time with family in nature and enjoys martial arts, yoga, singing, and climbing big mountains. Kim and her husband have climbed four of the world’s Seven Summits, many Colorado “14ers,” and the highest mountain or molehill in all 50 United States.
The Compostela:
The Chapter of this Holy Apostolic and Metropolitan Cathedral of Compostela, custodian of the seal of the Altar of St. James, to all the Faithful and pilgrims who arrive from anywhere on the Orb of the Earth with an attitude of devotion or because of a vow or promise make a pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Apostle, Our Patron Saint and Protector of Spain, recognises before all who observe this document that Kimberly Coupounas has devotedly visited this most sacred temple with Christian sentiment (pietatis causa). In witness whereof I present this document endorsed with the seal of this same Holy Church. Issued in Santiago de Compostela in October of the year of our Lord 2018.
— at Catedral Santiago de Compostella.
A Pilgrim’s Prayer to St. James
“O God, who brought your servant Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeans, protecting him in his wanderings, who guided the Hebrew people across the desert, we ask that you watch over us, your servants, as we walk in the love of your name to Santiago de Compostela.
Be for us our companion on the walk,
Our guide at the crossroads,
Our breath in our weariness,
Our protection in danger,
Our albergue on the Camino,
Our shade in the heat,
Our light in the darkness,
Our consolation in our discouragements,
And our strength in our intentions.
So that with your guidance we may arrive safe and sound at the end of the Road and enriched with grace and virtue we return safely to our homes filled with joy.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”
