For Current Guide Team Members

What is expected of each team member?

Come to each meeting with:

1. An hour of preparation. This could be doing an exercise and/or reading/watching — and thinking! If a module requires more prep time, consider using more than one meeting for the module.

2. Your stories on the topic. It’s all about our stories.

3. “Powerful questions.” They should be gentle and respectful, but a great question can trigger wonderful thoughts. There’s lots of good stuff out there on asking powerful questions, such as this article in Forbes.

4.  “Deep listening.” A willingness to really listen to the others — some call it “deep listening.” As in, really putting yourself in the shoes of the person sharing – and not just thinking about what you’re going to say next.  The more closely you listen, the better your questions!  If a speaker says something important, try repeating back to the speaker what you heard. The speaker will appreciate your perspective on what they have said. This piece on mindful.org is one of many articles out there on deep listening.

How long should we keep meeting?

Guide teams aren’t permanent! Some teams will last a long time, others less so. There’s no set period.

We encourage you to think of your team like a class, or a book group. You make friends in classes or book groups and continue to talk from time to time, perhaps when something comes up in your lives that is relevant to what your team discussed.

Some teams have taken breaks from regular meetings, particularly during busy periods.

Guide teams are for your benefit, so if a team is no longer benefiting you, don’t be shy! Feel free to reach out to Peter and Steve if you need help thinking about that.

We hope that if and when a team stops meeting, you’ll consider joining another guide team!

How do we run our meetings?

• Have fun, and hopefully laugh a lot! The topic can be serious of course, but maintaining a light touch will encourage your team to keep putting in the energy that exploration requires. Life’s big questions can be both silly and important!

• The teams will work best in an atmosphere of trust, respect and openness. 

  • We encourage each team to agree that confidences shared stay within the team, and not be shared with others (other than, of course, any confidences that raise concerns of safety).  

  • Peter and Steve will ask how the meetings are going from time to time. We don’t need to know about the substance of your confidential conversations, but only want to know how we can help facilitate better exchanges for the benefit of future groups going through the same process.

  • When a team members shares, we encourage you to respond with your own experiences, and try not to be openly judgmental about what you hear. 

• At the beginning of each meeting, consider answering one of the “get to know you” questions suggested in Module 1A. .

  • You’ll only use a few questions for your initial meeting(s). Save the others for later meetings! Or come up with your own questions.

• The meetings are to discuss (1) the topics in the modules you select, and (2) the life concerns, issues and challenges of the explorer and each of the guides. Your team should run the discussion however you like, but in our opinion the two subjects aren’t separate. The modules are designed to address what’s going on in your life..  

• If none of the team members have Zoom Pro ($15/month, allows 3 or more to have meetings lasting more than 40 minutes), consider subscribing or agreeing to another video platform. Some teams have used Skype. 

  • We recommend video conferencing vs. telephone meetings. 

  • If the team is comfortable with socially distant outdoor meetings, we support that!