Playing Is The Ultimate Leadership Skill! How “Weird Inner Child" Defines Purpose | Yanik Silver

Somewhere along the way, leadership started to get associated with being serious, controlled, and composed. This conversation brings it back to something more honest. Play, curiosity, the part of you that knew who you were before you learned how to perform.

Yanik Silver and I move through the territory of identity, creativity, and leadership from lived experience. We talk about growing up feeling different, trusting that difference, and allowing it to shape the work instead of hiding it. We explore how play keeps you connected to your inner signal, how creative practices like journaling and daily art create clarity over time, and how embodiment changes the way leadership actually feels in the body. Yanik shares how the Mayan calendar, the idea of a thousand suns, and following creative impulses have guided the way he builds, leads, and lives.

Yanik is the creator of the Cosmic Journal, the author of Evolved Enterprise, and the founder of Maverick1000, a global community of entrepreneurs committed to impact, creativity, and contribution. He’s also someone who refuses to take himself too seriously while doing meaningful work in the world. This conversation is for anyone who has felt out of place, questioned the cost of fitting in, or sensed that their leadership wants to come from a more playful, embodied, and truthful place.

Key Takeaways

Play is a Living Practice – Leadership stays human through curiosity and presence

Let Natural Weirdness Lead – Trust the path your nature keeps revealing

Chip Away Constructed Self – Remove layers until essence becomes undeniable

Prolific Energy Comes From Rhythm – Create daily from consistency, not pressure

The Body Is a Source of Truth – Let embodied awareness guide aligned decisions

When You Fully Light Your Sun – Radiate embodied truth that naturally multiplies impact