From Skydives To Psychedelics: A New Map For Brave Leadership

Forbes

24-06-2025

In a culture obsessed with peak performance and "next level" leadership, we often equate success with certainty, control, and linear achievement. But what if the real frontier of growth lies not in what we know—but in what we don't?
That's the question guiding world-record skydiver, bestselling author, and keynote speaker Melanie Curtis, whose definition of peak performance goes far beyond grit and achievement. For someone who's jumped out of planes over 12,000 times, it would be easy to assume she's fearless.
But as Curtis puts it: 'There is courage in the leap. We need those big swings. The courage we lack… is in the look inward. We need both.'
There is courage in the leap. The courage we lack is in the look inward. We need both. Melanie Curtis
Her work challenges the myth that potential only lives in upward motion—promotions, accolades, wins. Instead, she invites leaders to access their greatest and most grounded power by going to the places they avoid: fear, grief, and the emotional blind spots that silently shape our choices.
Here's how her story maps to the Lead in 3D framework of ME, WE, and WORLD—and what it teaches us about brave, embodied leadership. ME: Your Greatest Growth Might Start With What You Can't See
In 2012, Curtis's carefully built life hit what she calls her 'midlife mushroom cloud.' Her personal life—marriage, direction, emotional health—was unraveling. 'Despite all my success,' she says, 'I couldn't understand why I still felt so stuck.'
Like many high performers, Curtis was excellent at setting goals and achieving them. But she had unknowingly built her identity around performance, while pushing aside painful emotional truths. 'I had no idea how much healing I needed,' she says. 'As a very driven, Type A person, the problem is we don't think we need healing at all. I had ignored my own depth, and in that also had ignored my expanded potential.'
That insight opened the door to a new phase of her growth—one rooted not in trying harder, but in looking deeper.
With the support of a trusted therapist and close circle of friends, Curtis began to explore forms of healing she had previously dismissed—including psychedelic-assisted therapy. In 2018, she participated in her first plant medicine ceremony, approaching it with intentionality, safety, and deep reverence.
In one ceremony, she revisited the moment of her grandmother's passing and was unexpectedly shown her own unspoken fear of losing her mother. 'I wept what felt like rivers of sadness,' she says. 'For the first time, I allowed myself to feel and release the full weight of that grief and fear.'
That experience changed how she showed up with her mother—and with herself. 'Before, that fear was always between us. Now, when I'm with her, I'm with her.'
As research from the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research and the Global Ayahuasca Project shows, when used with proper guidance, psychedelic therapies can catalyze meaningful emotional breakthroughs. For Curtis, it was one path—among many—that helped her reconnect to her own wholeness. WE: Honesty, Not Armor, Builds Trust
Curtis's transformation has had a profound impact on how she leads and coaches others. 'Being brave isn't just skydiving,' she says. 'It's being honest. It's admitting when you're avoiding something. It's getting help.'
Too many leaders cling to certainty—not just in their strategies, but in their identities. 'I hear people say, 'That's just not me,'' Curtis notes. 'Whether it's therapy, public speaking, or softening into a new set of skills. What if the thing you're avoiding is the very door to your next level?'
The most powerful leaders, she argues, are the ones who aren't afraid to be seen fully —messy, in-progress, and willing to evolve. That authenticity builds trust not just with teams, but within yourself.
Her message aligns with emerging conversations about emotional risk-taking in leadership—from Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind to The New York Times' recent piece on psychedelic retreats for C-suite executives. In a world of surface-level strategy, what's gaining traction is real inner work.
Still, Curtis is clear: this isn't about one specific method. It's about humility. Curiosity. The willingness to ask: What am I missing? And who can help me see it? WORLD: From Healing to Creating Change
The final dimension of Curtis's leadership philosophy is about scale—not just in career terms, but in impact. 'Personal healing isn't the end game,' she says. 'It's the launch pad.'
With her blindspots no longer driving the bus, Curtis found herself riding a creative and professional wave of alignment. Her keynote speaking surged. She began creating large-scale artwork to celebrate unapologetic female power. She poured her energy into helping other women question what they've ruled out, what they've settled for, and what they could step into instead.
'I'm riding the rapids now,' she laughs. 'And yes, sometimes I'm choking on metaphorical water! But I rest, I recover, and I dive back in. The flow is still there.'
This shift from healing to impact is intentional. 'I've been working to recalibrate my focus,' she says. 'Healing can become its own loop if we're not careful. Healing is not the purpose. It's the preparation.'
That perspective has become her next mission: to help others cross from internal growth into aligned external success. To help others truly access the expansiveness of their own unique potential. To build their businesses, communities, and lives with the power that's rooted in wholeness.
Curtis's next mission is to help others cross from internal growth into aligned external success. getty Try This:
1. Question Your Certainty
What's something you're sure is 'not for you'? Public speaking? Therapy? Asking for help? That certainty may be a shield. Get curious.
2. Write Down What You Avoid
Name the pain, fear, or desire you've been avoiding. Even if it feels dumb or dramatic. Especially then. That's where the door to growth is.
3. Build a Brave Support Team
The most elite performers don't go it alone. Who do you trust to help you see what you can't? Surround yourself with people who can hold space, challenge patterns, and walk beside you in your transformation. What's on the Other Side of 'Not Me'?
'Every time I've risked being seen—really seen—it's made everything more possible,' Curtis says. 'More love. More flow. More fire.'
In a business world still addicted to certainty and control, her message is a counterintuitive call to courage: If you want to go higher, you have to be willing to go deeper.
Whether it's plant medicine, a painful truth, or a bold new habit, your next level might live in the very thing you've been certain isn't for you.
If you want to go higher, you have to be willing to go deeper. Melanie Curtis