Many people will have heard this, but I stepped down as president of the Australian Psychedelic Society (APS) at the end of August. My two years in that role, plus a year as vice president, were quite a ride! I want to share a timeline of my experiences, details of some projects I helped facilitate, some challenges we faced, and what I learned from the experience, particularly around leadership. I’ll also detail the areas I hope to work in now and the kinds of organizations I’d like to work with.

For those unfamiliar with my background, I have a PhD in philosophy. I worked for many years as an untenured & casual academic, teaching professional ethics, critical thinking, and philosophy of education for my alma mater, the University of Newcastle. But behind the scenes, plant medicines and psychedelics have been a constant passion and part of my life for as long as I can remember, and have led to some of my most enduring friendships.

My involvement with the Australian Psychedelic Society has played a massive role in getting me to where I am today as a professional and finding networks of connection and community that are irrevocably part of my life. This is our journey together, so far.

My journey with the Australian Psychedelic Society

In 2018, I was living in Melbourne and trying to find my feet as an early career researcher and aiming to carve out some post-academic future options. If I'm honest, neither of these things worked out how I envisaged, but that's a story for another day. Let's say I learned just how long Human Ethics Research Committee (HREC) approval can take and that you should never work for a blockchain startup that pays you exclusively in its own Ethereum token.

I'd been in contact with the newly formed Australian Psychedelic Society since Nick Wallis led its inception in Melbourne in 2017, though lot of us already knew each other since the early 2000s via the Shaman Australis Botanicals forum, sometimes known as The Corroboree, or simply SAB. (Side note: I can’t overstate how important the connections SAB facilitated were to the emergence of many friendships, organizations, and individual careers in psychedelics here. If you know, you know.)

In 2018 I prepared the APS submission to the Prime Minister's Religious Freedom Review. But my work with began in earnest when I reconnected with them at the Entheogenesis Australis Garden States event in 2019. It was there that a volunteer, who is now a good friend, reeled me into a more active role with the promise of being able to help with more submissions to government and regulatory inquiries.

2019-2020: Out of the frying pan and into the fire

In August 2019, I joined the Society's national executive committee. In this role, I did everything from assisting with running our social media channels to facilitating external partnerships with organizations such as Thank You Plant Medicine. My main policy-related achievement for that year was leading the collaborative development of our code of ethics. Apart from the fact that I think the code is good, this was my first real taste of truly joint development of a policy document, which was a challenging but truly educational experience. I'd never had to coordinate input and feedback from this many people – in this case, a dozen committee members and multiple external stakeholders. Not putting boundaries and firm deadlines on what feedback was helpful and when I needed it was a rookie mistake, one I didn’t make again.

Even though the entire country was on fire by December 2019, things were easy compared to what was just around the corner. On the upside, the catastrophically bad air quality from the bushfires meant I already had stash of KN95 masks.

In August 2020, as Melbourne hunkered down in one of its many waves of COVID and my plans for getting out more and attending festivals were in tatters, multiple members nominated me for Vice President. The nomination surprised me, as I had the drive and desire to lead but doubted that anyone else saw me in that light. (Obviously, I was wrong about that.) 2020-2021 was another hectic year under challenging operational conditions. Most of our funding came (and still comes) from events. So, when we entered a period of sometimes unpredictable lockdowns, we had to pivot to online or hybrid events, often at short notice.

Despite these complications, I managed to assist the president, Meredith Drinkell, in developing and overseeing the deployment of our 2021-2023 strategic plan. I also led the development of our submission to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, supporting the rescheduling of psilocybin and MDMA for psychedelic therapy and making the argument that such down-scheduling needed to go much further. Again, this was a collaborative approach, and I had input and feedback from many of my colleagues. But thanks to my experience with our code of ethics, it was much quicker and less painful. Meredith and I solidified the idea that the president and VP were a co-leadership team, a practice that continues today. Negotiating external partnerships was a big part of my role, too, and I was thrilled to facilitate agreements with Synergetic Press and Psychedelic Support.

During my time as VP, I completed the La Trobe Business School Leadership Professional Development Program (LBSLMP), which help validate the ideas I was forming about leadership style and corporate social responsibility. The lockdowns and subsequent exodus of international students led to me losing virtually all my teaching work. I don’t begrudge the government doing this, but it was not an easy time. Luckily, I saw that Third Wave was looking for writers and managed to catch the eye of Aviva Rabinovici and Paul Austin, thus beginning my content & writing work outside of the nonprofit sector.

2021-2023: That's not a learning curve, THAT'S a learning curve!

By mid-2021, my wife and I had made good on our plans to leave Melbourne for the mid-north coast of NSW to be closer to family and further from urban environments that made lockdowns doubly challenging for us. (Ironically, we arrived just in time for NSW to finally decide that lockdowns were necessary.) I was in a different city than any of our established chapters. But, since COVID had helped the executive committee to fully embrace running a geographically distributed organization through online communication tools, this didn't make a massive difference to my day-to-day work. In August of that year, Meredith left the presidency to seek much-deserved career opportunities and adventure overseas, and I was the unopposed nominee for president.

It's hard to summarize the next two years, for two reasons. One is the sheer number of things that happened and decisions I was involved in (more on that below). The other is that during this time, I embarked on far fewer projects of my choosing and concentrated more on facilitating the conditions where individuals and teams could thrive and successfully bring their projects to fruition. So, I think about most of what happened during this time as things "we" achieved rather than things I did myself. Everything was, in some way or another, a team effort. Even things that were squarely my responsibility, like overseeing our compliance with charity & financial regulations, were really part of something the whole team contributed to. That I was even in a position to be in this role is a testament to the support I had from those closest to me.

That said, we did a lot. The Australian Psychedelic Society ran nearly 80 events during my presidency, when much of the country was in lockdown, including integration circles, picnics, movie screenings, workshops, expert panel discussions, and seminars. We grew our active chapters in all states, rebooted the Melbourne chapter, which had been mothballed since 2020 and expanded into multiple regional areas. We successfully started new dedicated groups, including Women's, BIPOC, Veterans & First Responders, and Men's. We partnered with nonprofit and commercial organizations in one-off or ongoing arrangements, including with Enlighten Mental Health, Entheogenesis Australis, Signs of Life Psychology, PATCH, EPIC, SSDP, and Psychedelic Science 2023. We made multiple submissions to state & federal governments to advocate for evidence-based drug policy. We wrote to magistrates in order to help people facing charges for possession of psychedelics. We hosted thousands of people at events, reached hundreds of thousands through our online communication channels, and had innumerable digital and in-person conversations with people for whom current mental health interventions had failed or who just wanted to feel less alone and different.

Still, I found it hard to believe I was making a difference. But at the EGA Garden States event in December 2022, I had so many people thank me that it became hard to deny. People saying they appreciated the organization's work was great, but not totally unexpected. Having people I didn't know thank me for my work? That was a surprise.

NSW 2023 election drug policy scorecard, created in collaboration with Unharm, NUAA, and SSPD Australia.

Of the projects I led directly as president, there are two that I'm most personally proud of. The first was our collaboration with Unharm, NUAA, and SSDP on the NSW election drug policy scorecard (pictured above). People who want change need to think about who they vote for, and I hope we contributed to this. On top of it being collaborative in terms of actual workflow, this project involved negotiating what each organization was able to have associated with their name in terms of electoral laws, ACNC regulations, and less-formally acknowledged political connections. This added a layer of complexity, and underscored the benefits of clear and early communication of what all parties expected and needed from our work together.

The other project particularly close to my heart was finally agreeing on the definition and detail of what we think decriminalizing drugs should include. The basis for this came out of our submission to the Australia’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement inquiry, ‘Australia’s illicit drug problem: Challenges and opportunities for law enforcement’. An enormous amount of time and intellectual effort went into the resulting decriminalization statement. I hope that with a clear articulation of the reforms we want to see, we can advocate for them more effectively and advance their discussion in the public sphere. I was very happy that our work around decrim meant I could help organize the truly excellent Decriminalisation Panel Discussion, featuring Dr Monica Barratt, Dr Alex Wodak, David Heilpern, and an anonymous guest whose family had been impacted by how severely possession of psilocybin mushrooms is treated under the law here.

By early 2023, I was starting to feel that there was other work I needed to do and that continuing as president would spread my attention and energy across too many things simultaneously. I felt that doing justice to the position required a high level of focus, and I was no longer the best person to provide that. Luckily, we had someone who'd spent two years performing outstandingly well in the vice presidency: Antanika Hoberg. Antanika was great to work with and is a true friend. I’m thrilled that she’s taken on the leadership role, and can’t wait to see what she achieves. Our new VP, Gabrielle Smith, has big shoes to fill, but I’m confident that she’s up to the task.

The key takeaways and insights from my leadership experience

My time in the presidency was, as I hinted with my Crocodile Dundee-inspired subheading above, an immense learning curve. After a year as VP, I thought I knew it all. But I was wrong about that. This next section is a little of what I got from those two years.

Some of the team chilling out away from the crowd at Garden States 2022. From the left: Simon Beck, Nick Wallis, Gabrielle Smith, Marty Deering, Antanika Hoberg, me (lurking at the back), Jef Baker, Adam Grossman, Lee Franklin and Nick Palmer.

Leadership

I was surprised to learn how many questions people would ask me as president. When I started, I said I wanted people to feel comfortable coming to me if they needed anything or had any questions or concerns.

There were weeks when I wondered if that was a mistake.

But fielding these questions was essential to building capacity, particularly in team leaders who have autonomy in running their chapters, subcommittees, or special projects. This was specially important for Chapter Leads. Chapters, which are our local groups, operate primarily on their terms so long as their activities align with our overall strategic aims and organizational values. These chapters are where most of our face-to-face work happens and where we interact with local communities. Chapter Leads run teams of volunteers, organize local events, and are the key to succeeding in our most important work. Working with them to build their knowledge and confidence in decision-making made sense to me. If they came to me with a question, I tried not only to answer it but, if possible, to do so in a way that meant they wouldn't need to ask again.

When I entered the presidency in mid-2021, I suspected that good leadership nearly (but not quite) makes itself redundant. By December 2022, I was pretty sure that I'd confirmed it. At this point, only the really hard questions or decisions came through to me. I was being contacted so much less on a day-to-day basis that I could lead a few projects of my own again for the first time in 18 months. I didn't achieve this by just answering questions, directing resources, and helping people be confident in their abilities. I also tried to steer people into roles I thought they were well-suited for. On that point, it's important to note that if you give someone the "You've got this" talk, you need to be very confident that you're right to do so.

The key is to think of leadership as a form of holding space. I tried very hard to be genuinely present for anyone I interacted with as president, whether they were a colleague, volunteer, or member of the community. While making decisions inevitably means exercising value judgments, getting to what is happening, how people are feeling, and who they are is much easier if you start from a place of openness, curiosity and non-judgment. Setting the tone for this, creating these spaces – this is the real key to leadership in psychedelic contexts and beyond. It's not always easy, especially once you realize that you must also be present and non-judgmental for yourself. But if you want your teams and the people in them to thrive, you need to go beyond simple transactional or coercive leadership. I think I achieved that, and am looking forward to helping other organizations embrace this approach. (If you are interested in this, please email me!)

Work-life balance

"Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life." Maybe. I learned that you can take things too far if you do what you are genuinely and passionately committed to. At one point, I worked 40 hours a week writing content and teaching philosophy of education, then spent another 30 hours a week on my phone or tablet doing volunteer-related work in the evenings or on weekends. That isn't sustainable for most people and certainly wasn't for me. I learned to pace myself, delegate where I could, and prioritize where I could not.

Unsurprisingly, I became much better at spotting the signs of overwork and potential burnout in others. My saying that I needed to do less had a positive run-on effect, making it easier for others on the executive committee to do the same. I'm not saying it worked perfectly, but more people were willing to act before they were overwhelmed and burnt out. Yes, this sometimes meant letting some things go. But it also meant we retained talented people, rather than them having to take extended time away or leave our organization altogether.

Just as important is that running an organization or business in a way that burns people out is almost always unethical. We all think what we're doing is essential, but is it worth ruining the health and well-being of the people who work for you? Sometimes, doing the right thing requires great personal sacrifice, i.e., during wars or disasters. But this isn't usually the case, especially in business. So, looking after your people is an excellent example of where the practical and ethical can meet.

The power of the mycelial network and community engagement

One pet frustration of mine is companies or organizations that feel they don't need or wouldn't benefit from grassroots community support. In many psychedelic communities, companies developing new psychedelic compounds to commercialize them are viewed with suspicion, if not outright hostility. However, I have observed that this isn't always the case. A great example is Psylo and their Chief Scientific Offer, Dr. Sam Bannister. The last time I saw him was at the EGA 2022 Garden States afterparty, deep in conversation with Snu Voogelbreinder. I'm unaware of him or Psylo ever getting any negativity from the psychedelic communities here. Not only did Sam give a well-received talk on new psychedelic pharmaceutical drug development at a conference full of people who could have been hostile to the idea, but there he was, hanging out with one of Australia's most talented amateur ethnobotanists. This only happens if you're part of the community here.

Dr Stephen Bright at EGA Garden States 2022 discussing Australia’s first MDMA trial.

I can't speak for other countries, but it's worth understanding the connection between grassroots psychedelic and plant/fungal medicine communities, researchers, and nonprofit organizations here in Australia. These relationships, if approached the right way, can be beneficial for all involved. People in communities gain a pathway to influencing researchers and organizations and to have their voices heard, but also better access to academic knowledge and various evidence-based harm reduction/educational resources. Researchers get easier access to trial participants and, if they are well-connected, access to the collective and individual understanding and support of the underground. Nonprofits & charities get access to willing volunteers, quality scientific & medical advice, academic guests for their events and podcasts, and well-founded confidence that they serve the communities they aim to represent.

How for-profit psychedelic concerns fit into this in Australia is still emerging. Still, with some imagination and real commitment to not just do capitalism as usual, the potential benefits will be there. The newly formed Psychedelic Institute Australia will be something of a test case for this.

If you want to be part of this network in Australia, there are a few essential considerations.

This is an interpersonal web of trust, so who you know and who knows you is still critical.
You can't fake or bully your way into this; trying either will damage your brand.
Your psychedelic organization, business, or career only exists because of underground and indigenous communities, so skimping on reciprocity is a bad idea.
These individuals, organizations, and communities that comprise this network are essential stakeholders. If they feel you are acting against their interests, they will stop supporting you and may even work against you.

It is possible to achieve considerable success without being part of this network. But, in my opinion, it's more challenging, expensive, potentially more acrimonious, lonelier, and less fun. I also suspect that outsider organizations tend to lose volunteers and staff to better-connected alternatives, but I don't yet have enough information to call that a trend. What I will say is if you want the best & brightest people who are part of psychedelic communities to work for or with your organization, it’s going to take more than just money.

How we can work together to achieve your psychedelic vision

From left to right: Dr. Tra-ill Dowie, me, and Dr. Chris Letheby talking philosophy & psychedelics at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne, May 2023.

I've overseen the running of a nationwide psychedelic charity. With all I've learned and know, and the connections I've made, I'm in an excellent position to help other organizations in the psychedelic space succeed.

This work isn't just about money, though it's a practical necessity for me to earn a living. To get the best outcome for psychedelics and the people who use them for whatever purpose or reason, it's vital that organizations that are ethically, environmentally, and socially responsible succeed. This is true of both nonprofits and commercial operations. I have always been upfront about my belief in legal reform around psychedelics beyond clinical usage and the need for broad drug law reform. We have a better chance of making these changes happen if more psychedelic-related businesses and nonprofits are committed to supporting them. It’s perhaps not the most profitable decision I’ve ever made, but I only work with clients if they support genuine drug law reform and are at least working towards operating in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. I’m not going to launch into another lecture, but the time for business as usual is over - this means taking a hard look at practices and models that are exploitative, extractive, and coercive, and trying to do better.

Organizations in the psychedelic space do best when they:

Connect to and work with existing communities
Know and understand other key players and organizations
Embrace leadership and management styles that go beyond coercive or transactional approaches
Are equipped with the expertise and experience to navigate the unique ethical and regulatory challenges that psychedelics can bring
Have a clear vision they can articulate and an actionable plan (including measurable outcomes) on how to achieve it

All of this is especially true for startups, but also for established organizations that are new to working with psychedelics and the people who use them. These are just a few of the things that I can help with as a consultant - all you need to do is reach out.

Staying connected to community and life beyond work

I'm still on the executive committee of the Australian Psychedelic Society. I am looking forward to being able to focus on what motivated me to volunteer in the first place: advocating for legal reform to make psychedelic therapy more accessible and move all drug use away from criminality and toward safe supply. Our advocacy subcommittee has been quiet since the AGM, but it’s the right time to ramp up our efforts in this area.

I'm also still volunteering with the Ethical Psychedelic International Community (EPIC), where I hope my experience and academic knowledge can help individuals and communities work through ethically complex cases and start to produce high-quality educational materials. This work is important, and not going away any time soon

In between all of this, I’m also hoping to work on some more psychedelic research of my own, especially around education. Who knows, maybe Dr. Sandra Dreisbach and I will make good on our idea of collaborating on some psychedelic ethics-related articles. I’m an experienced educator outside of psychedelics, and I’m very keen to bring my teaching experience and philosophical expertise to an area where critical research is lacking. This is a longer-term plan, though. For now, my work priorities are those I’ve laid out above. I say “work priorities,” as I now draw a clearer line around work & volunteering, meaning that the important people in my life get the attention they deserve.

It feels right to be saying all of this as spring in Australia kicks into high gear. The sun is shining, and I feel future possibilities opening up in front of me. On that note, that’s it for now. I’m going to stretch my legs, find a mirror, look myself in the eye and say:

“You’ve got this.”

Do you need expert advice around psychedelics in Australia or elsewhere? Or do you need unique blog or web content for your psychedelic business that is accurate, engaging, and written by someone people know and trust? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, please reach out via the button below - I’d love to hear from you.

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Leadership Lessons: Insights from Leading the Australian Psychedelic Society