**1. Introduction**

A stay under primitive conditions in pristine nature does something to us. People relax, reflect, or even transform. Recent research indicates that such a journey promotes the development of purposeful, authentic leadership.

Despite the promising intentions after corporate scandals, corporate malfeasance and the 2008 financial crisis [1, 2], distrust of leadership is still problematic today. In addition, the contexts in which leaders operate have become increasingly complex over time [3–6]. Focus on traditional organizational values (e.g. product and service quality, financial performance) is expanding to one with a broader orientation that also includes social responsibility and environmental stewardship [7, 8]. Moreover, in this regard, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provided a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future, that is, a sustainable world by 2030. The 17 goals cover a wide range of topics involving people with different needs, values, and beliefs. The SDGs are a partnership for humanity; they are multigenerational, with purpose at the core, and aim to ensure that nobody is left behind. This poses an extra tough challenge

for organizations and their leaders. Yet, more and more companies see the purpose of business differently and aspire to thrive, over the long term, by serving all stakeholders [9]. The companies that embrace the opportunity from meeting the SDGs—an estimated \$12 trillion and 380 million jobs globally, by 2030, in only four sectors—will thrive. However, while there is a vision of what needs to be done, progress in this vision so far has been disappointing. The multitude of contemporary challenges requires more than just a change in leadership competencies. Therefore, scholars and practitioners have argued that a more fundamental shift in mindset is required [10–13]. However, leadership development is still largely based on cognition-based learning to improve competencies - skills and abilities (skillset) - rather than addressing the capabilities of leaders - their inner resources (mindset) in the face of complex leadership challenges [12]. Crossing this threshold requires social technologies, tools, methods, and leadership practices that deliver a shift in mindset and consciousness from ego-system awareness to eco-system awareness [14] —from a mindset that values one's own well-being to a mindset that also values the well-being of one's partners and of the whole.

More fundamentally, Maturana and Varela [15] have described the process of mind shift in an important maxim: "*You can never control a living system. You can only disturb it*" [15]. And with that, the argument continues: You cannot disturb a living system unless you transform its consciousness. And you cannot transform consciousness unless you make the system see and sense itself. Thus, to make a shift in mindset, the beam of conversational attention needs to be bent back to its source. Instead of just seeing others, we need to learn how to see and sense ourselves through the eyes of others and of the whole [14]. Accordingly, Woiwode et al. [16] assert that a living system is most effectively changed through inner transformations related to consciousness, ways of thinking, values, worldviews, beliefs, spirituality, and connection between man and nature. So, shifting mindsets is problematic and therefore requires different training than competency-focused programs [17, 18]. Traditional programs often rely to a bigger extent on formal learning, that is, knowledge-based learning through abstract texts. When it comes to changes in attitudes, values, and beliefs - rather than pure knowledge - experiential, emotional, and social learning is more effective than formal learning [19–23]. On that account, Inner Development Goals (IDG) [24] was recently founded, a non-profit organization for inner development that receives input from world-leading scientists and opinion leaders. The IDG framework of tools and qualities relate to what is needed to successfully work with complex societal issues, in particular those identified in UN**'**s Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In this regard, experiential nature-based leadership transformation programs appear to be a promising tool for transforming towards purposeful, authentic leadership.

The central research question in this chapter is: what is the impact of wilderness experiences on the development of authentic leadership? To address this aim, in Section 2, a literature review will address the definition of authentic leadership and its capabilities, the status of leadership development in literature, and the role of trigger events in nature. The third section introduces the wilderness leadership transformation program conducted by the Foundation for Natural Leadership. The fourth section then presents the empirical studies, conducted by the author, that provide answers to the various research questions. In section five, concluding remarks are made and the findings are positioned within relevant academic debates. In the last section, some important practical implications will be presented.
