What does it mean to be fully human — and to live from that place?
Nicholas Janni has been working with CEO’s and senior teams globally for over twenty-five years, and teaches at two of the world’s leading business schools, pioneering a new vision and practice of leadership. He bridges the worlds of creative, personal, spiritual and professional development in a uniquely powerful, relevant and accessible way.
His book “Leader as Healer, a new paradigm for 21 st century leadership” was published to wide acclaim in 2022, and won Business Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards 2023. His new book, “Leading in Chaos”, co-authored with Amy Elizabeth Fox, is available now in Europe, and from April 9th in the US. He is the co-founder of Matrix Development.
We explore:
- How we threw the baby out with the bath water with religion
- The difference between belief and direct experience
- How "life as effort" is programmed into our nervous systems
- What emptiness, receptivity and wonder have to do with innovation
- Why wellness alone won't cut it — and what transformation actually requires
- The concept of "somebody before nobody" and the melting of identity
- Why 2026 feels like a year of accelerated inner and outer collapse
- And what a good life really means
For more from Nicholas Janni's work:
Leading in Chaos: www.leadinginchaosbook.com
Matrix Development: www.thematrixdevelopment.com/
For more from Mark McCartney:
Newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
Website: https://www.mmcleadership.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markcmccartney
00:00 – What is it to be fully human?
01:59 – Throwing the baby out with the bath water
06:32 – Theatre, emptiness & direct experience
10:17 – Resting as a radical act
17:35 – When word and energy align
23:57 – Transmission in corporate spaces
32:28 – We're already in collapse
38:00 – Being recoded right now
42:10 – Somebody before nobody
48:11 – Feeling alive vs. feeling small
55:53 – What is a good life?
Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life
