I once took a leadership course in Vermont that was about recognizing and observing leadership principles in nature.
One phenomenon that we discussed was fungi and how they lead.
I learned that below our very feet, fungi form an incredible and intelligent network that spans every continent. Fungi are the forerunners of any form of life – they create the right terrain for plants, animals and people to thrive.
Technically speaking, fungi are so well connected that a fungus in the woods in the Northeast is speaking with fungi on the West Coast with hardly any time delay. The amazing part is that these fungi are communicating with each other, through infinitesimal strands of fungi in the soil all around the world.
How might this be relevant for you?
These days, there are millions of organizations and billions of individuals who are all doing good things in the world. Not all of them are aligned through the same ideology, but they are all aligned by the same core values: life-giving, life-preserving values. One person doesn’t run all these organizations and individuals; rather, they organize themselves and improve the world in their own way.
This speaker drew an analogy of fungi to the people and organizations in the world that strive to make our reality a more loving, pleasant and generous one. Every person who does anything for the betterment of the world is part of this incredible, fungi-like network. As you know, we are all connected, and together we are invincibly strong.
We are adaptive and indestructible. We form a web that is continually becoming more aware of itself. We are becoming aware of our gifts, our strengths and our ability to contribute to the whole.
The more active we become, the stronger the entire network becomes.
So in order for you to fortify the fungi network, you literally just have to do “your thing”. Whether that is raising a family, painting, leading, teaching…..it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you do it with the awareness, that your intention of uplifting the human condition is connecting up with the intention of others to do the same, and hence, it is as powerful and essential as the fungi network in creating an atmosphere for all to thrive.