We had the good fortune of connecting with Adriana Machado and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adriana, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?

Coherence has become increasingly more relevant to me at this stage of my life. Isn’t it fascinating when everything falls into place at the right time and life happens as a beautiful dance? It’s hard, if not impossible, to keep that flow all the time, but don’t we wish we could? The flip side is how miserable we get when everything that can go wrong does, and at the same time!
I learned from Chilean biologist Humberto Maturana that “we cannot separate the way we live from the dynamic realization of living”. That “the world we live in is not independent from us, we literally bring it forth ourselves.” This is extremely powerful!
In that sense, if we can practice coherence and eventually become coherent in all we do, chances are that the dance of life will become more harmonic, and we are better positioned to benefit from our autopoietic abilities, again another concept I learned from Maturana that has to do with our ability to self-organize, to self-regulate, to maintain and renew ourselves. This is a property that all living systems have, and it gives us great power in terms of how we choose to live our lives.
I believe that the more coherent we get with our beliefs and behaviors, with how we relate to self and others, the more we can tap into our creativity, intuition, and imagination, and the healthier the quality of the relationships we build in life will be.
There is too much distraction and noise in the world around us that moves us away from what really matters in life. Having clarity as to why you are here and what you intend to do with the opportunities that each day present themselves to you is magical. It’s not always easy to have this clarity, but I believe it’s possible to develop wisdom over the course of life and get to a point where coherence happens effortlessly. I get inspired by this thought!

What should our readers know about your business?

Briyah Institute is a benefit corporation based in Florida with a global outreach. We focus on leadership development and strategic advisory for leaders and organizations. What differentiates us is the systems thinking approach and our passion for innovation that is market-creating and nature-positive.
We have learned from Janine Benyus, biologist, innovation consultant, and the author of the book “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature”, that when we have nature as mentor, model and measure, the innovation we bring to life can be more regenerative and really help us address the complex issues we are facing in the world today in a much more effective way. And anyone can learn to apply the biomimicry lens, which is grounded in life’s principles such as: evolve to survive, adapt to changing conditions, be locally attuned and responsive, integrate development with growth, be resource efficient, and use life-friendly chemistry.
We have also learned that technology advancement, specially artificial intelligence (AI), is here to stay and that we all need to embrace it, but how we do it is equally relevant. Leaders must be aware of the risks and opportunities of AI and work harder than ever to develop human wisdom.
I love it how Yasuhiko Genku Kimura explains in one of the episodes of Briyah’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Fun on Leadership” podcast that “wisdom is not knowledge, but evolving states of consciousness.” In his view, “wisdom develops with our ability to question, to ask the most potent questions that lead to greater understanding.”
Narratives matter and how we see the world, how we deal with increased uncertainty, change, and fear, how we integrate different areas of knowledge and apply transcontextual thinking, these are all relevant aspects a leader must be aware of nowadays and Briyah is here to support this journey of lifelong learning.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

My newest favorite place in Miami is The Patch of Heaven Sanctuary, located in the Redlands. It is a 20-acre nature preserve non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of our tropical hammocks and local wildlife, as well as the integrity of the historic structures built by the Matheson family on the property.
When you check their website you learn that, according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, tropical hardwood hammocks are found sporadically throughout the southern half of South Florida. There are large concentrations in Miami Dade County on the Miami Rock Ridge, in the Florida Keys, the northern shores of Florida Bay and in the Pinecrest region of the Big Cypress Swamp. Tropical hardwood hammocks are closed canopy, multilayered forests, dominated by a diverse collection of evergreen and semi-deciduous tree and shrub species, most of them West Indian in origin. Tropical hardwood hammocks serve as a critical habitat to a few native plants, various West Indian plant species, and as refuge to many species of wildlife.
They call our attention to the fact that these species have been heavily impacted by urbanization and the associated destruction, as well as by invasive exotic species disturbing the ecosystem. In fact, it is critical to restore remaining tropical hardwood hammocks and to control exotic plant species.
Patch of Heaven Sanctuary has taken on the responsibility of educating our community on the importance of protecting and preserving all types of natural areas, and they also offer mindfulness programs deeply rooted in nature.
Patch of Heaven Sanctuary is definitely an extremely nice place to visit and a precious asset of the city of Miami.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Briyah Institute has come to life as the result of a combined effort of so many people who believe in it and contribute to it somehow! My recognition and shoutout goes to all who have played a role in it since its creation in 2018, from our interns and volunteers to our advisory board members and the great speakers who have joined us for the leadership courses we offer. Special thanks to those speakers and participants from out-of-town and other countries who have accepted our invitation to come to Miami for Briyah’s course “High-Tech, High-Wisdom: Igniting Leaders for Transformation”. Special thanks to Edie Weiner, Craig Stepien, Daniel Matuschizik, Richard Gibbs, Cibele Salviatto, Yasuhiko Genku Kimura, Corinna Schabbel, Dr. Lisa Miller, Edel Pontes, Rosemary Ravinal, Robert Hacker, Tina Miller, Prof. Alejandro Portes, Matt Haggman, Leigh-Ann Buchanan, and Michelle Blechner for sharing their wisdom with us.

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Image Credits
Headshot by Lea Grandvalet Studer at Image Me.

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