I Love Resources, Not Money — A Leadership Reflection

 In leadership spaces, success is often measured in numbers — budgets, targets, growth curves, and financial projections. I understand their importance. I can work within these systems. But they are not what anchor my leadership.

Money is abstract. It requires constant tracking, scoring, pricing, forecasting, and comparison. For many leaders, this is energising. For me, it is cognitively heavy and emotionally draining. I can function in it, but I do not lead my best life — or my best teams — from there.

What grounds my leadership is direct relationship with resources.

Credit: Chatham Congregational

Resource-Oriented Leadership

Resources are tangible and relational:

• Food systems that nourish rather than exploit

• Water, energy, and land managed with responsibility

• Knowledge shared generously, not hoarded

• Human capacity developed with care, not pressure

• Communities strengthened, not commodified

When leadership is oriented around resources rather than revenue alone, decision-making becomes clearer and more humane. The questions shift from “How much does this cost?” to:

• What does this sustain?

• Who does this serve?

• Is this regenerative or extractive?

• Is this enough?

Why Financial Abstraction Creates Leadership Fatigue

Excessive focus on money turns every decision into a trade-off measured only by numbers. Time becomes a billable unit. Care becomes an expense. Learning becomes an output.

For leaders who value systems thinking, ethics, education, and ecology, this creates quiet burnout — not from lack of competence, but from misalignment.

Not Anti-Money. Pro-Alignment.

I am not opposed to money. I am opposed to allowing it to become the sole language of leadership.

Money is a tool. Resources are the foundation.

When money serves resources, organisations thrive sustainably. When resources are sacrificed for money, systems fracture — even if the balance sheet looks healthy.

Leading Differently — and Intentionally

I once thought this made me an outlier in leadership spaces.

Over time, I have found educators, environmental leaders, community builders, and regenerative organisations across the world who lead the same way — quietly, steadily, and with long-term vision.

This is not a rejection of leadership norms. It is an expansion of them.

I lead with clarity when I am allowed to value life-sustaining resources alongside financial realities.

And that difference is not a weakness.
It is a leadership strength.

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True leadership elegance lies not in accumulation, but in alignment — choosing what sustains people, planet, and purpose, and having the courage to lead accordingly.