Leadership, Psychedelics, and the Path to Inner Clarity

How a Journey from Communes to Boardrooms is Reframing What It Means to Lead with Compassion

In today’s fast-paced world, leadership is often equated with power, pressure, and performance. But what if true leadership came from a deeper place, one of clarity, healing, and inner alignment?

On this week’s episode of the Neuma Podcast: The Crossroad of Science and Enlightenment, we sit down with Paul Karasik, CEO of the Psychedelic Institute of Los Angeles, executive coach, and author of Getting High on Leadership. His journey spans from the countercultural communes of the 1960s to Fortune 500 boardrooms, and it’s anything but conventional.

From LSD to Leadership

Paul doesn’t shy away from his roots. He was raised in the era of Timothy Leary and Haight-Ashbury and experienced early spiritual awakenings and unfiltered community living. But what’s profound is how he carried those lessons into his executive work, where psychedelic experiences became tools for emotional intelligence, vision, and better leadership.

“If you’re yelling at your team, you’re not leading. You’re reacting,” Paul shares. “Psychedelics helped me break that cycle. They brought me back to the heart of leadership: compassion, clarity, and connection.”

Why Angry Leaders Fail

Paul believes that unresolved trauma is the root cause of reactive, toxic leadership. And without tools for integration, leaders default to control instead of connection. That’s where psychedelic-assisted therapy plays a new role — not as an escape, but as a mirror.

Whether it’s Ayahuasca ceremonies with executives or microdosing to support creative decision-making, Paul shows how altered states are revealing the inner states that need healing.

The Future of Conscious Leadership

This episode isn’t just a trip down memory lane, it’s a blueprint for the future. A future where CEOs prioritize self-awareness over ego. Where founders create space for stillness. And where Neuma Hydrate supports post-journey integration by nourishing the very pathways psychedelics open up.

As Paul says, “We’ve got to stop outsourcing consciousness. The real work happens when you come back — and stay awake.”

Takeaway:

If you’re a leader, founder, or healer, this conversation will challenge your beliefs and open new doors.

Tune in. Reflect. Lead from within.