What is a

Grounded Guide?

Growing our leadership capacity for times like these

We believe that there are unique leadership skills called for at this time.
Leaders need the capacity to navigate liminality and guide people through destabilizing times
with grace, tenderness, courage and strength.
The person cultivating these skills is what we call a Grounded Guide.

When we’re lost in the woods

Imagine you’re lost in the woods and it’s getting dark. Your eyes start playing tricks on you and you’re certain there’s a hungry predator behind every tree. You suspect you’re going in circles, because, according to the trail map, you should have emerged by now.

You come across others who are also lost, and soon there’s a small crowd forming. Some are starting to panic and others are arguing about which path to take.

Finally, one person calls everyone together in a circle and says “let’s work together to figure this out.” Her calmness helps to soothe people’s fear and soon everyone is taking turns offering information, skills and tools that will help the group succeed together. Thanks to the collective wisdom she’s helped the group tap into, everyone is safe for the night, whether that means bedding down until morning, or navigating in the dark. Eventually, you find your way out together.

This, in essence, is what it means to be a Grounded Guide – someone with courage and stability in times of liminality, who’s skilled at gathering and motivating people, and who’s a natural collaborator and community builder.

At the Centre for Holding Space, we believe that this is the kind of leadership most urgently needed right now. In the midst of our current polycrisis, with climate change, wars, political polarity, rising fascism, and economic instability all happening at once, we’re lost in the woods together and it’s getting dark. As is often the case in times of fear, people turn to authoritarian leadership for security, but that won’t serve us well in this liminal time.

The leaders we need now are Grounded Guides.

A Grounded Guide is a wise, compassionate, discerning, and self-reflective leader.

They guide and support the collective from a place on the ground – within the ecosystem rather than set apart from the ecosystem. A Grounded Guide is emotionally mature and community-oriented, recognizing the impact of the individual on the collective and the collective on the individual. While grounded in the present, they also hold a long-sighted view of the future. They are collaborative, gathering the wisdom of advisors and those most impacted and making decisions rooted in thoughtful systemic analysis.

The Five Pillars of Grounded Guidance

A Grounded Guide is a lifelong learner who seeks to build capacity in these five key areas, while avoiding the trap of perfectionism.

1. Emotional Maturity

GG core competencies – emotional maturity

understands nervous system activation and self-regulation, co-regulation, and eco-regulation
has social & emotional intelligence
honours boundaries & limitations
is grounded in self-reflective practices
doesn’t fear or suppress emotions but holds space for people to move through them
can hold complexity with humour and lightness

2. relational Maturity

GG core competencies – relational maturity

builds and sustains meaningful community and kinship
collaborates & makes decisions rooted in the collective good
consults wise counsel
is committed to equity and building relationships across differences
is committed to conflict transformation & generative peace-building

3. Long-sightedness

makes decisions rooted in an understanding of deep time
sees the folly of limitless growth
recognizes that death, composting & regeneration are necessary parts of life within an ecosystem
is committed to the long journey of human development and is a life-long learner, open to changing opinions

4. Grounded Collaborative Leadership

GG core competencies – collaborative leadership

offers guidance and rarely controls
holds space for and with the collective
recognizes collective liminality & trauma
listens to diverse opinions with openness to changing one’s own opinion
co-creates generative spaces where ideas can flourish
is held accountable by the collective

5. Integrative Systemic Consciousness

GG core competencies – systemic consciousness

integrates body, mind, spirit wisdom
holds the complexity of both macro and micro views – the individual & the collective, the species & the ecosystem
sees the entire ecosystem and values all beings in it
integrates ancestral/Indigenous/nature-based wisdom
functions from a place within the ecosystem/heterarchy

We’re Here to Help.

Whether you’re seeking support for your own development as a Grounded Guide, or you want to nurture the leadership skills in your organization, we’re here to help you.

For organizations, we have a comprehensive suite of webinars, workshops, and keynote addresses which we already deliver to satisfied clients all over the world, and we’d be happy to tailor one specifically to meet your needs. Whether you’re looking for an intensive year-long training program for your leadership team, a weekend retreat, or a one-time presentation on a particular topic, we’ll work with you to make it the best it can be.

For a comprehensive set of webinars on the topic, check out our Leadership for Liminal Spaces program. Our other programs also help people develop their leadership skills, including our How to Hold Space Foundation Program (and follow-up Certification Program), Not the Main Character, and Know Yourself.