Strive together.
Thrive together.

We've been pursuing wellbeing while ignoring our symbiotic relationship with each other and the planet. I help leaders develop the mindset and skills to restore the balance — and create the conditions for collective, long-term thriving.

Alexander Schmidt
Symbiotic Leadership

The change I seek to make

For decades, we've treated economic growth and planetary health as separate ledgers. Buy now, pay later. But the bill is arriving — in disrupted supply chains, volatile energy markets, extreme weather, and a generation of leaders who sense that something fundamental needs to shift.

Symbiotic Leadership means recognizing that none of us will be well if the planet is not. It's a shift from extractive to generative — in how we think, lead, and create value.

This isn't a call to renounce ambition. It's a return to the original meaning of competition — com-petere, to strive together. The change starts ground-up, with leaders who have the humility to admit they don't have all the answers alone — and the courage to find them together.

Now forming — founding cohort 2026

Retreat to Progress

A small-cohort intensive for sustainability leaders navigating the gap between ambition and what is actually changing on the ground. Not a conference, a peer group, or a wellness retreat. Something different: three days in a restorative natural setting with five to eight peers — curated around a shared problem, with built-in follow-through.

Cohort size
5–8 leaders
Format
3 days residential
Location
Swedish west coast
Dates
Sep–Oct 2026
Learn more and express interest →
Swedish west coast
How I work

Beyond the retreat

Symbiotic Leadership is learned in practice, not in theory. Alongside Retreat to Progress, I work with individual leaders and teams who want to develop an integrated response to the interconnected challenges they face.

1:1 Coaching

Deep, individual work for leaders navigating the shift — from clarifying your theory of change to developing an integrated response to the interconnected challenges your organization faces.

Teams & Projects

Structured sprints with leadership teams tackling their specific challenges — rethinking finance, supply chains, carbon, and governance as one interconnected system.

Background

Built at the intersections

The Symbiotic Leadership philosophy grows from over a decade of applied work at the intersection of carbon accounting, supply chain ESG traceability, climate finance, and standards governance. I hold a PhD in Econometrics and have worked as an independent advisor bridging disciplines, institutions, and sectors — the kind of coordination problems that siloed expertise alone cannot solve.

This cross-cutting experience informs everything I bring to leaders today: a deep understanding of the four fundamental challenges and a practical, integrated approach to responding to them.

UN/CEFACT Rewired Earth Exponential Roadmap Initiative Earth Governance Alliance
Get involved

This is an invitation

Whether you're a leader sensing the need for a fundamental shift, or already acting on it — I'd like to hear from you.

Book an exploratory conversation Read my writing