Interviews Archive

Insights at the Edge with Tami Simon (video featured above)
Are we in the midst of a civilizational collapse? There are some definitive signs, says Margaret (Meg) Wheatley, who has spent a lifetime as an activist and educator seeking to create a more caring, compassionate, and connected world. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with the renowned organizational and systems expert about how she maintains faith in humanity and a tireless commitment to her life’s work, even as she approaches 80 years old. Tune in for an inspiring call to become a “spiritual warrior” at this precarious time in history, with profound insights on how life exists in cycles—and why this is important to understand; putting our energy and desire to contribute in the right places; compassion and insight; seeing clearly so we can act wisely; removing the filters of hope and fear; grace, synchronicity, and serving your purpose; being faithful to the work you’re called to; the dark night of the soul; working for change at the local level; joy and togetherness; the antidote to despair; the practice of “I’m not lost, I’m right here”; and more. July 2024

Men Alive, an Interview with Dr. Jed Diamond (video featured above)
This was a delightful shared inquiry into both the Masculine and Feminine energies—a crucial exploration at this time.  Jed also wrote up our conversation in an article, you can read here. February 2024

Climate Alliance (video)
The Climate Coaching Alliance is a wonderful group of coaches and leaders who know the climate and ecological emergency we face, dedicated to shifting the awareness and actions of those they coach. “We hold space for personal, professional, social and ecological growth, through dialogue, networking, skill sharing, storytelling, and action.”  I felt we went very deep in discerning what is and what is not possible with a wide variety of clients. January 2024

Transformational Learning Summits (video)
Lorenz and Natasha Sell are wonderful friends and colleagues, as well as the creators of the online platform Sutra that we rely on for our online courses and ongoing communities of Warriors. In January 2024, Lorenz interviewed me about Restoring Sanity.  In May 2023 we had a long exchange about Who Do We Choose to Be?  I love both these interviews for their depth and intimacy.

Facing Civilization Collapse Like a Warrior (audio)
In so many interviews, I have to keep repeating the evidence for collapse. Dave Ursillo understood where we are and so this interview goes deep into reality and how we can find a role of great meaning and possibility, that of a Warrior for the Human Spirit. March 2023

Beyond Hope and Fear (video featured above)
Michael Dowd left us October, 2023.  His loss is immeasurable but he left an extremely rich legacy of interviews, narrated books and articles, and sermons at www.postdoom.com. I lost a dear friend with whom I was in constant exchanges, many about the absurd and/or stupid acts of denial that were and are becoming evermore common.  It is a great blessing that we recorded this exploration of Hopium. October 2022.

Finding Ground in “The Age of Threat” (video featured above)
Michael Shaw first came across my work via a workshop I co-led with Pema Chodron more than 10 years ago. I was speaking about a Hopi Prophecy spoken to the world in 2000, describing the times we were living in and how to meet them. This prophecy forms the basis of our conversation from June 2022

The Role of Art in Expressing the Fullness of the Human Experience  (video)
A Conversation and performance with Slovenian violinist Mika Pogacnik. February 2022

Becoming a Shambhala Warrior: A Tribute to Pema Chödrön (video)
Presented at The Wisdom of Pema Chödrön; A Summit of Timeless Teachings to Awaken the Heart by The Lion’s Roar. March 2022

The Power of Collective Healing (video featured above)
In conversation with Thomas Hübl, one of the clearest teachers about trauma, I confront our intense focus on both individual and collective trauma by citing Asian cultures for whom the concept doesn’t even exist.  What can we learn from understanding that this is how Western peoples have been conditioned to think about life’s struggles, yet other peoples have no sense of victim, shame, or “bad things” happening to them? September 2020

Coaching from Deep Service in Times of Collapse (audio)
There are many signs that we are a civilization in collapse. How to be with this time of upheaval? And how can we as coaches contribute in the most meaningful way? In this conversation with Margaret Wheatley we explore what meaningful work looks like and how coaches can contribute at this time, the roles of presence and despair, individualism and selfless service, and how to foster resilience in the face of collapse. July 2019

University College Dublin Volunteers Overseas Annual Forum 2019: ‘Compassion and Action’ (audio)
What does it mean to be an activist in today’s world and how do we sustain hope? September 2019

Becoming Warriors for the Human Spirit (audio)
By studying the history of living systems and their natural life cycles, Wheatley has discovered that every living system goes through a life cycle: birth, creativity, flowering, harvesting, and then death. It was no surprise for her to realize that every civilization goes through this life cycle as well. She points out that we are at the end of a cycle and she warns us: “It’s important that we understand where we are in the pattern of collapse and not throw up our hands in despair (which is part of it – the acceptance) . . . but to understand: Now that this is happening, who do I choose to be?” Wheatley gives this advice for these perilous times: “We hold ourselves accountable for being present, for being good listeners, for not entering into every situation with a need to fix somebody or something. Instead, we must bear witness, be present, and in that, we are reminding people of the better qualities of being human. . . [It] has always puzzled me in the past how people in terrible situations describe their experience as joyful. And now I know what they’re talking about which is that they are experiencing a deep sense of communion, of connection with what it means to be human, and that is always joyful no matter what’s going on in your external life.” December 2018

Who Do We Choose To Be? Webinar for Institute of Coaching (audio)
Speaking to hundreds of coaches and consultants, Meg encourages them to realize the rich potential of these professions. We can play a pivotal role in supporting leaders to make a conscious choice in how they use their power and influence. We can support them to step forward as Warriors for the Human Spirit, leaders who consciously act to support and defend people. In order tor coaches to serve this critical role, we also need to attend to our internal states through meditation, contemplation and other activities that take us into a deeper presence. Here is a link to an excellent summary of this webcast. December 2018

Margaret Wheatley: Warriors for the Human Spirit (audio)
In this interview with Tami Simon of Sounds True in her podcast Insights at the Edge, Tami and  Meg talk about the cycles of life and history, especially as they apply to the chaotic contemporary world. They discuss the need to create “islands of sanity” within our communities and what it means to become a warrior for the human spirit, and how such a warrior can avoid engaging in the same fear and anger we are trying to fight.  January 2018

Meg Wheatley Interview: Our National Parks Service (video)
In this video, I summarize my seven years of work with National Parks Service, as a member of the twelve-person National Advisory Board.  As I tell in this video, this has been among the most rewarding consultancies of my entire career.  And I am deeply connected and passionate about the work of the National Parks.  This is the 100th birthday of the Parks and you’ll probably notice that there’s a lot of publicity designed to both promote parks and to create a sense of stewardship for the parks.  Nothing is preserved and protected against the constant onslaught of threats to our parks except through determined citizen engagement. April 2016

Meg Wheatley for I-Open.org (video)
Meg Wheatley presented “The Gift Economy” seminar November 1, 2013, at the River’s Edge Cleveland in Rocky River, Ohio. While visiting the Cleveland area, Meg contributed a conversation to the I-Open library offering perspective on today’s shifting world, what we as leaders can do next, and what must be done in the face of deteriorating civilization to sustain belief in human potential. November 2013

Resilience Through Compassion and Connection with His Holiness the Dalai Lama (video featured above)
I was invited to be in a public conversation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Orleans on May 17, 2013.  The theme was “Resilience through Compassion and Connection.” The event was sponsored by Tulane University and, because of my work in New Orleans post-Katrina, I was invited to speak about the power of community in times of difficulty.We had a lively conversation that included neuroscientist Richie Davidson.  This was a sublime experience, one that continues to ground and inspire me. May 2013

Teleseminar with Organization System and Relationship Coaching  (audio)
Meg participated in this teleseminar with the Organization System and Relationship Coaching (ORSC]C) community as part of their quarterly professional development series. The topic was Meg’s book So Far from Home: Lost and Found in Our Brave New World.  October 2012

Smart Start Conference (video)
Meg Wheatley answers questions about leadership in this interview filmed at the 2012 National Smart Start Conference for early childhood educators. October 2012

Let Go and Lead (video)
In this interview Margaret speaks about: the illusion of control, motivation, humility, a fundamental paradigm shift, the new paradigm, relationships, taking action, and process. July 2012

Future Tense on ABC Radio (Australia) (audio)
Host Antony Funnell interviewed Meg Wheatley on the topic of “Modern Leadership and Community,” discussing Meg’s belief that we’ve become too dependent on our leaders and that future contentment and strength lies in a re-emphasis on the notion of community. July 2009

Northwest Catholic Women’s Convocation (audio)
This speech was delivered May 2, 2009 at the Northwest Catholic Women’s Convocation, “Drawing a New Story–Radical Hope,” an event which drew together 2000 Catholic nuns and lay women from all over the world. Meg’s speech was entitled “The Future of the World Depends on Women.” These excerpts were from her remarks on perseverance (which is the subject of her book of the same name). This speech was accompanied by Meg’s usual photos and quotes displayed on screen. Listen to Part Two. May 2009

Meg’s Peace Corps training experience in 1966, Hilo Hawaii (video)
From 1966-68 I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Korea, the first group to go into this war-ravaged country. Korea was still a traditional culture, foreign in all ways: food, language, alphabet, religion, culture, geography. I now realize what a privilege it was to live in a culture that had not changed its ways of being and relating for many centuries. Today Korea is the poster child for globalization, and the old culture only appears at festivals and weddings, lost to development and modernization as have most cultures the world over.

This video relates the experience of the Peace Corps Volunteers who trained in Hilo Hawaii (also before Hawaii became a tourist destination). While it doesn’t focus on my group specifically, it fully captures the experiences of training I went through as well as the idealism that propelled so many of us to serve in the Peace Corps in its first years. We were truly inspired by President John F. Kennedy and the Peace Corps was one way that I, as a young college graduate, tried to carry on his vision.

As I reflect back on my experiences in Korea, it was where I first learned to deal with a culture that was truly foreign, but to which I became very acclimated in the 2.5 years I served there. It was also where I learned that beneath our varied cultural manifestations, we are all humans with the same basic wants and values. When we left Korea, my friends and I agreed that after this, we could go anywhere and feel comfortable. And I did.