Pachamama Alliance Community Resource v1

7/21/2019 Pachamama Alliance Community Resource v1

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PACHAMAMA

ALLIANCECOMMUNITYRESOURCE

DRAFT VERSION

December 12, 2015



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Welcome to the Community Resource for Pachamama Alliance Communities! We

view every person in the Pachamama Alliance as an empowered leader, and we

thank you for stepping into that role. Our goal is to build a global network of people

committed to personal transformation and collective action in support of an

environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, socially just human presence on

this planet, and we are excited to work together towards that vision!

The Pachamama Alliance Engagement Team developed this packet to provide

suggestions and resources to support your work, and to help align your efforts with

Pachamama Alliance values and practices. We encourage you to use it in whatever

way feels helpful, either focusing on specific sections or reading and applying the

resource in its entirety.

We strive to integrate personal transformation and community organizing to

develop systems and structures that support meaningful change. We can only

succeed in that process collectively, and we encourage you to ask for clarification

or additional information at any step of the process. We hope that you will share

your thoughts and experiences so that this document can incorporate your insights

as it is continuously refined and updated.

This resource will evolve over time to support Pachamama Alliance Communities

as they develop new initiatives and activities. Like our broader work, this guide is a

collaborative project with Pachamama Alliance Communities. Our world needs a

new dream, and we are excited to work together as we create resources that will be

part of bringing forth a thriving, just and sustainable future for all. Thank you forembarking on that journey with us!

In partnership,

The Pachamama Alliance Engagement Team

contact us: [email protected]



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Table of Contents

I. Introduction to Pachamama Alliance Communities page 3

•

Purpose of Pachamama Alliance• Up to Us Engagement Pathway

• The Role of Pachamama Alliance Communities

II. Sharing Leadership in Pachamama Alliance

A. Sharing Leadership page 6

• Empowering Each Other through SharedLeadership

• Circles as a Model for Sharing Leadership

• Embodying Shared Leadership

B. Multiple Roles of Leadership page 9

• Leading in Any Role

• Co-Active Leadership Roles

• Sharing Leadership Across Multiple Roles

C. Sharing Community Responsibilities page 13

• Sharing Leadership in Core Teams

• Sharing Leadership in Decision Making• Resolving Conflict

D. Structuring Meetings to Share Leadership page 17

• When and Why to Meet

• Experience Empowering Meetings

• Empowering Meeting Practices

• Sharing Meeting Responsibilities

• Suggested Meeting Components

• Appendix – Opening and Closing Suggestions



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I. Introduction to Pachamama Alliance

Communities

In this section we discuss the role of Communities in fulfilling the purpose of the

Pachamama Alliance. Communities operate within the context of the Up to Us

engagement pathway, an interconnected set of programs designed to catalyze

personal and social transformation. Communities provide a unique opportunity to

engage, connect and act collaboratively. You can find additional information about

Communities at pachamama.org/engage/communities.

Purpose of Pachamama Alliance

Pachamama Alliance, empowered by our partnership with indigenous people, is

dedicated to bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling,socially just human presence on this planet.

Our unique contribution is to generate and engage people everywhere in

transformational conversations and experiences consistent with this purpose. We

weave together indigenous and modern worldviews such that human beings are in

touch with their dignity and are ennobled by the magnificence, mystery, and

opportunity of what is possible for humanity at this time.

We are here to inspire and galvanize the human family to generate a critical mass

of conscious commitment to a thriving, just and sustainable way of life on Earth.

This is a commitment to transforming human systems and structures that separateus, and to transforming our relationships with ourselves, with one another, and with

the natural world.

Up to Us Engagement Pathway

The Pachamama Alliance Up to Us engagement pathway is designed to develop a

tipping point, a critical mass of people committed to bringing about a world that

works for all. It offers a series of transformational programs that support people in

engaging powerfully with the key issues of our time, and in taking collective game-

changing actions. The Up to Us engagement pathway has five elements:

• Pachamama Alliance Communities are local hubs where people connect,

learn and work together to bring about social transformation. Communities

develop their own visions, initiatives, and partnerships that connect their



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interests with local opportunities to address important issues of our time.

This work takes many forms to promote deep learning, community building,

and collective action.

• Awakening the Dreamer is a transformative educational program available

in person and online that awakens participants to both the challenge and

the opportunity of the crises that humanity now faces, and inspires them to

find their role in creating a new future. Communities use Awakening the

Dreamer to bring new people into their work.

• The Game Changer Intensive is an interactive, online course with a deep

commitment to both personal and social transformation that connects

participants around the world and inspires and engages them to be game

changers in their communities. Communities use the Game Changer

Intensive to develop a deeper understanding of who they need to be and

what they need to do as individuals and as a collective to change thesystems and structures of modern society and create the future we

envision.

• Game Changing Movements are aimed at addressing the root causes of

two of the most pressing issues facing us today—climate change and

unrepresentative democracy. Communities have the opportunity to interact

with national Game Changing Movement Partners and develop local efforts

to address the root causes of modern crises.

• Pass It On is a leadership development program that supports the

expansion of Pachamama Alliance Communities and other Up to Usprograms to grow the critical mass of people working towards a thriving, just

and sustainable future.

Role of Pachamama Alliance Communities

Communities provide an opportunity to pursue the vision of Pachamama Alliance at

a local level, in connection with like-minded people in your area and in collaboration

with other Communities and partner organizations around the world. Communities

connect people with common purpose to inspire, educate, and empower each

other, to support a higher vision for humanity, and to promote local action in pursuitof global goals as part of a far-reaching network. They tackle big questions that are

hard to grapple with as individuals. Together, in community, we can make a

tangible impact on the big issues of our time.



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Engaging with people in local groups applies the best aspects of human nature

towards this work. People have a natural inclination to connect, create, and

collaborate, and we need to access everybody’s insights and engage everybody’s

creativity to confront the challenges we collectively face. Modern society, however,

is not organized to meet this need. Studies suggest that humans have the cognitiveability to maintain relationships with about 150 people, which is reflected in the

social structures in our evolutionary history1. The scale of modern social structures

vastly exceeds this value, creating a barrier to contributing our gifts to society. We

wind up seeing ourselves as individuals rather than as a group, working

independently rather than collectively. Communities work to engage and encourage

everybody’s unique gifts by creating a collaborative space for them to flourish. In

order to create a meaningful future, we need to rediscover the skills that enable us

to thrive in community.

Communities represent an opportunity to create transformative systems and

structures that re-imagine the way we organize ourselves. The systems people

created to govern our society have caused the current environmental, spiritual, and

social crises. We attribute these crises to the myth of separation, which holds that

humans are separate from each other and from nature, and we believe that

overcoming this myth is the key to transformative change. We cannot reverse the

problems of society using the tools that created them. We need a new vision, a new

approach, and new strategies. We strive to create systems that are connected,

empowering, and fulfilling, and structures that account for everybody’s needs rather

than privileging a few people over everybody else. Creating alternatives to

conventional thinking and ways of being, based in interconnectedness rather than

separation, will provide transformative examples to other Communities, to other

organizations, and to society at large.

1 Wikipedia contributors. "Dunbar's number." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number>



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II. Sharing Leadership in Pachamama

Alliance Communities

In this section we discuss sharing leadership and apply the concept to Pachamama

Alliance Communities. Sharing leadership is a key principle of Pachamama

Alliance, and Communities represent an opportunity to develop this practice in local

groups. We provide perspectives on sharing leadership in various capacities,

including Community meetings and decision making. If we are going to transform

society, we must transform the way we relate to each other. We see sharing

leadership as a key to that transformation.

A. Sharing Leadership

This section discusses the importance of sharing leadership for fulfilling the role of

Pachamama Alliance Communities discussed in I. Introduction to Pachamama

Alliance Communities. Familiarity with the purpose of Pachamama Alliance and the

role of Communities provides helpful context for this section, but you can benefit

from reading this section in isolation.

Empowering Each Other through Shared Leadership

We envision Pachamama Alliance Communities as a supportive framework that

empowers everyone to follow their natural desires to connect, create, and

collaborate. We believe that empowerment, engagement, and connection go handin hand; people want to contribute to efforts they identify with where they see

opportunities to use their skills and passion to have a meaningful impact in

collaboration with others. Our collective challenge is to create structures that

enable this work.

We develop empowering relationships in our own work by acknowledging that

every single one of us is a leader, and that every single one of us plays a unique

and critical role in social transformation. This approach may seem unfamiliar given

the message we receive from existing systems about how to operate effectively.

Although some people may be inclined to apply conventional leadership models to

this work, existing systems can’t create the outcomes we are looking for. We need

a leadership model that brings out the best in people in order to change course. By

coming together and stepping into our roles as leaders we can create the

harmonious systems a thriving, just and sustainable future requires.



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Circles as a Model for Sharing Leadership

When everyone is a leader, we can’t structure ourselves in the hierarchical

pyramids that many institutions use to elevate selected leaders over everybody

else. Instead, we use the model of a circle where every person, every leader,

relates equally to all others. Individuals clearly have different strengths, differenttalents, and different interests, but we can all have an equal voice within our

Communities.

The circle model isn’t new. It can be said that our political heritage had its

beginnings in the early circles of indigenous tribes, when a community of people sat

around the fire, talking, telling stories and singing, surrounded by natural

wilderness. Indigenous wisdom circles and councils often served as the basis for

tribal decision-making. Contemporary thought leaders have embraced the circle

model, suggesting that we undertake the challenges of our times by organizing our

thinking and actions in small groups or circles. The illusion of separation is a huge

obstacle to collective action and sustainable living, so the act of bringing people

together is a vital part of the solution. Reintegrating this mindset into Communities

provides a framework for transformational change.

Embodying Shared Leadership

Shared leadership itself is a key goal of our work, not just the means to an end.

Achieving this goal requires commitment, practice, and patience. It prioritizes

hearing from everyone, valuing different perspectives, and collaborating to create

uniquely wonderful processes and outcomes. At times it may seem more efficient to

ignore these principles to try to get things done without sharing leadership, but

short-term deviations can undermine your work. The long-term benefits of sharing

leadership require consistent commitment.

Pachamama Alliance staff shares leadership in our work, so we have some

experience with this model. We take accountability for different tasks and projects

just as in any other organization. The practice of aligning around goals and

strategies ensures that we pursue work with a common purpose that benefits from

multiple perspectives. The ability to collaborate dynamically without strict divisions

and to participate equally in decision making processes as part of sharing

leadership empowers us to pursue new activities and achieve exciting resultsbased on collective wisdom. Our goal is to support Communities as they embody

shared leadership to empower and inspire each other.





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B. Multiple Roles of Leadership

In this section we discuss the Co-Active Leadership model from the Coaches

Training Institute4 that articulates multiple roles of leadership. This discussion

builds on the previous discussion of sharing leadership.

Leading in Any Role

Conventional leadership models based on a single leader dictating or directing

action restrict our ability to address the big problems that confront society. Indeed,

the worldview underlying these models, which elevates people over nature and

some people over others, generated the intertwined environmental, spiritual, and

social crises we face today. Conventional leadership has produced many

impressive outcomes over time, but we need new models to create the

empowering, responsive, transformative systems and structures this moment inhistory calls for to create a thriving, just and sustainable future.

An expanded view of leadership helps empower people to act. Leadership is often

defined as an active process in contrast with the passive process of following. In

that model, only one person is fully empowered. Pachamama Alliance views

everyone as an empowered leader, and relies on different thinking to support this

perspective. By understanding leadership roles in different contexts, we can

embrace our roles as leaders without being at the top of a hierarchical pyramid.

Co-Active Leadership RolesThe leadership roles below come from the book Co-Active Leadership: Five Ways

to Lead, from the Coaches Training Institute, and are designed to describe every

role a person can play in a group. At its most basic, Co-Active means simply being

in action, together. Or perhaps it might be more appropriate to say being together,

in action. The co represents the relational and receptive aspects of our world. The

active follows and represents the action-oriented aspects. Each role consists of

both co and active components. Each role also includes both positive and shadow

forms, and it helps to be aware of both of them because everyone is always playing

one or more of these leadership roles in one form or the other. All of the forms of

leadership are valuable, and work together. No role is more important than any

other, and sharing leadership involves playing different roles at different times.

4 www.thecoaches.com/



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Every person in a group is playing at least one of these roles at all times. Think

about which roles seem most familiar and comfortable to you, and where you can

challenge yourself to grow into new leadership roles in your Community.

Co-Active Leader Within: Self-Acceptance and Self-Authority

This is the foundation, the starting point for every other form of leadership. Co-

Active Leaders Within take responsibility for their world by accepting themselves

fully (co) and living their lives within integrity in accordance with their personal

values (active).

CO:

Nourish self acceptance.

Let go of limiting beliefs.

ACTIVE:

Clarify your personal values.

Discover your life purpose.

Characteristics: Connected to inner self and integrity; I show up fully, fully

aligned, making the choice at every moment to be my best self.

Shadow form: The ego-based self, seeking aggrandizement or avoiding

what is seen as risk or danger, at the expense of integrity and self-

expression.

Co-Active Leader in Front: Connection and Direction

Co-Active Leaders in Front foster connection with the people who are following

them (co) and stand firmly for a clear direction and purpose (active).

CO:

Encourage courageous conversations.

Demonstrate transparency.

ACTIVE:

Take a powerful stand for your vision.

Sit down and encourage others to take the lead.

Characteristics: This is “leadership from the front of the room,” leading

others - the dominant model in our western culture. Has a vision of wherewe’re going, mapping the trail: “I have a plan - follow me.”

Shadow form: Domination of others, not listening, not collaborating,

disempowering others, not knowing when to sit down.



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Co-Active Leader Behind: Serving and Coaching

Co-Active Leaders Behind focus on providing whatever is needed and, through

open hearted and enthusiastic participation, advance the action in a way that holds

everyone together.

CO:

Foster impeccability.

Find others right.

ACTIVE:

Develop your ability to listen deeply.

Acknowledge others authentically.

Be a champion for other people.

Characteristics: Responsibly empowering the “Leader in Front” to

succeed, supporting, offering help, engaged in looking for ways to help.

Shadow form: Abdication of power and self-expression, not expressing

self, allowing the leader to founder or fail, passive-aggressive behavior, “not

my responsibility,” co-dependency.

Co-Active Leader Beside: Partnership and Synergy

Co-Active Leaders Beside is a partnership between two people in which both

people are 100 percent responsible for every part of the initiative.

CO:

Design your alliances.

ACTIVE:

Focus on alignment rather than agreement.

Use “ yes, and…”

Characteristics: Co-piloting, truly collaborative leadership, offering clear

communication and accepting co-responsibility, partnership, sharing

leadership.

• Note: Adopting this shared leadership model is often seen as the

panacea for groups and communities, trying to avoid what is seen as

hierarchy or without having a clearly-denominated leader from thefront - but it isn’t a panacea.



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Shadow form: Co-dependency, co-leading in a way that is only negative or

drains energy or stops action, identifying only problems in a disempowering

way.

Co-Active Leader in the Field: Intuition and Innovation

Co-Active Leader in the Field is about noticing and taking responsibility for our

impacts in and on our world.

CO:

Trust your natural intuition and instinct.

Be aware of your impact.

ACTIVE:

Act without needing to collect evidence.

Speak the truth.

Characteristics: Accessing information from the field and bringing it backto the organization, providing the larger context, the big picture, “it’s worth

noticing that…” putting things in a broader perspective.

Shadow form: Always bringing an overwhelming bigger context or

irresolvable questions, it’s all too overwhelming, or irresponsible use of the

information, bringing in too many “considerations” or different viewpoints.

Sharing Leadership Across Multiple Roles

In the context of multiple roles of leadership, your Community can create dynamic

and empowering processes as you collectively pursue your local vision. People will

bring their own strengths, talents, and interests to that work. Your Community will

thrive when everyone understands the different roles they can play as leaders, and

can fill various roles depending on the circumstance. You may lead from the front

on projects you feel strongly about. Take care to avoid the domination and

obstinance that comes with the shadow side of this role. You can lead from behind

on other projects. Try to stay actively engaged in those efforts as well, and find

ways to support the group from this different role. No matter what efforts your

Community pursues, you have a unique and valuable perspective to bring to the

group in every situation. By identifying and clarifying the various roles of leadership

that you and others play in different contexts, you can empower each other to

achieve incredible things by sharing leadership across multiple roles.

We offer some intentions to guide this process:



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• Notice and become conscious of the leadership role we and others

are playing at any one time.

• Notice when a certain type of leadership role is needed, and naming

or addressing it to help the group become aware of and improve its

process.

• Notice the role(s) we are most comfortable with, or if we seem to be

playing only one or two.

• Learn to be more comfortable with playing each of these roles well

without falling into the shadow of any of them.

• Learn to choose the right role to play at any moment in time.

• Learn to support the role of other leaders in our team from our

leadership positions knowing that every position in our team is aleadership position.

Within this context, your Community can share leadership dynamically and benefit

from everybody’s contributions while developing collective wisdom in pursuit of

concrete goals. Think about how your Community can help each other lead in

different ways. As we embrace our responsibilities as leaders in every role, we

create empowering and transformative systems.

C. Sharing Community Leadership

Having discussed sharing leadership and multiple roles of leadership in the

previous sections, we turn to aspects of implementing these ideas in your

Community. Those leadership concepts intersect with our discussion here in many

ways. We will do our best to identify those overlaps within the text and provide

specific references to previous sections to help you connect the concepts. We

encourage you to explore additional overlaps that you identify as well.

Sharing Leadership in Core Teams

The effectiveness of the Community is best served by a Core Team of 6-12 people

that consciously share responsibility for its overall well-being. The Core Teamdevelops, encourages, and nurtures efforts to support and grow the Community.

Rather than doing all of the work themselves or establishing a position of authority

over the group, the Core Team tries to empower the broader Community to connect





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leadership means that everyone is responsible for seeing that the advice process is

carried out effectively. Central to that role is working to serve the interests of the

Community. Sometimes that means speaking up from a position of collaboration if

someone has not consulted you when they should have before making a decision.

These conversations can be very helpful for deepening understanding and forempowering all participants. It is important for the decision maker to listen deeply to

other people’s input and be willing to incorporate the interests of the Community

into their decision. Other times, serving the Community may take the form of

supporting somebody as they pursue a decision other than the one that you think is

best. If they have consulted everyone appropriately and heard all concerns,

empower them to make the decision they think is best for your Community. It is

important to be aware that someone being willing to support a decision does not

necessarily require that they think it is the best decision. When we all show up in a

constructive leadership role (see II.B Multiple Roles of Leadership) we enable our

Community to make effective decisions.

The following steps may be helpful in implementing the advice process, to share

leadership around Community decisions:

1. Somebody identifies a need within the Community that requires a decision

Anybody can initiate a decision-making process. Is there a specific project

or task that would enhance your collective work? Would you like to see your

Community host an event, form a partnership, or conduct an outreach

effort? Don’t hesitate to bring it up regardless of your role within the

Community.

2. The decision maker seeks advice from relevant Community members

The advice process ensures that a decision incorporates the collective

perspectives and wisdom of the group. The decision maker takes

responsibility for seeking advice from people affected by the decision and

those with expertise on the matter in order to bring forth the most effective

community input. Ask people for their thoughts, identify important areas of

consideration, and engage in conversation. Leading the advice process may

involve facilitating the group’s seeing common ground, or finding new

possibilities for alignment that would not have been seen otherwise.

Depending on the circumstances, whoever leads the advice process can

request input by email, during a meeting, or one on one. Although some

people may choose not to participate, it is important to extend the invitation.

Asking for input allows people to trust that they have an important voice in

making decisions relevant to them, and generates new insights.



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3. The decision maker weighs possibilities and comes to a decision

Ultimately, the decision maker chooses a way forward knowing that they

need the trust and support of their Community to be effective, so they need

to make the decision in a manner the community supports. The success of

the advice process requires a shared commitment to serve the Community.The decision maker may decide to drop the initiative or it may become clear

that the decision should wait. You may have to make a decision that not

everybody agrees with. Empower decision makers to follow the path they

think is best, keeping in mind that they will then hold responsibility for the

outcome.

When people know that their voice will always be heard and that they are free to

craft their own unique solutions, they can show up fully in their work and bring forth

their best collaborative abilities with the trust and support of their Community.

Resolving Conflict

When we assume responsibility for sharing leadership and making decisions, we

also assume responsibility for resolving conflicts. We can’t count on someone else

to settle disputes or disagreements, it’s up to us. The ability to resolve conflicts

skillfully is more about how we choose to be present and less about specific

techniques, but we offer a few principles and approaches that we have found

effective in their simplicity and broad utility.

• Time Outs: Consider establishing a protocol for someone to signal a time

out whenever people are beginning to talk at each other or take a position

that shuts down discussion, For thirty seconds, everyone stops talking and

takes a deep breath to come present, consciously open their hearts, and

remind themselves of their shared purpose before discussion continues.

• Talking Stick: This practice, borrowed from indigenous communities, has

particular relevance when people in a group hold strong views, or no clear

view, or express confusion. The discussion can proceed based on an object

that a person holds in order to speak. Those not holding the object

concentrate on fully listening to the speaker, rather than thinking about their

own remarks. When the speaker finishes, they either put the object back in

the center or pass it to the next person who is ready to speak. You can alsopass the object around the circle so everyone can speak in turn. This

process may seem slow compared to open discussion, cross-talking or





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D. Structuring Meetings to Share

Leadership

In this section we offer concrete details and practices to implement during meetings

to support sharing leadership in your Pachamama Alliance Community as

discussed in previous sections. Although it may be useful to ground yourself in that

narrative, feel free to dive right into the specifics presented here if you are so

inclined. We suggest these approaches to embody the values of Pachamama

Alliance based on our organizing experiences. Which ones you select, and how you

choose to stand for those values is up to you.

When and Why to Meet

Meetings are one reason Communities come together on a regular basis. Otherreasons include rituals, group learning and discussion, and to get to know each

other better. It is helpful to clarify the type of gathering so that people know what to

expect. In this section we focus on meetings that develop Community events and

activities. We recommend holding these types of meetings every 1-2 months,

usually for 1.5-2 hours. Many Communities combine a business meeting with a

meal. Remember to make time to develop collective action along with enjoying

each other’s company. Sometimes it makes sense to have smaller and more

frequent meetings to focus on a specific project with the people working on it. One

example is meeting to plan an Awakening the Dreamer Symposium, which does

not necessarily include everyone in a Community. Be clear about your goals for ameeting so that the right people show up and everybody knows what to expect.

Experience Empowering Meetings

Before we get into specifics, we want to provide some perspective on empowering

people during meetings. Meetings may sound like the worst way to empower

somebody, but don’t let bad experiences with meetings in other contexts deceive

you - meetings can be empowering! What does an empowering meeting look like?

Some possibilities include space to see and honor each other, processes that

develop and strengthen relationships, and opportunities for everyone to contribute

and demonstrate leadership. You may want to discuss ideas in your Community to

come to an understanding about what would empower all of you.



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We view shared leadership as a key feature of empowering meetings. Shared

leadership is more than a means to an end, shared leadership is part of the goal

(see II.A Sharing Leadership). Developing shared leadership takes a conscious

commitment from everyone involved. The process can be challenging at times, but

the beauty of connection and empowerment that drives tangible projects rewardsthe effort. Holding the goal of shared leadership can help frame your thoughts and

actions before, during and after meetings. We want to support your Community in

this process, and we offer some suggestions to inform your explorations.

Empowering Meeting Practices

Sharing leadership can take different forms, but we expect it will always have some

key similarities and we borrow some fundamental ideas from PeerSpirit6 to inform

your work. Remember that sharing leadership is more than just an approach, it’s

part of the goal. It may be tempting to take shortcuts that abandon shared

leadership principles, but such shortcuts may also undercut the long-term well-

being of your community. We suggest honoring the following principles:

• Leadership rotates among all members. To truly empower your

Community, every individual needs equal access to your meeting structures

and the opportunity to have an equal voice in meetings. Some people may

be inclined to take on certain meeting roles and prefer to avoid others, but

within reasonable constraints we suggest stretching yourself to share

leadership in all roles. Invite people to try new tasks and take on new

responsibilities. Make sure that key roles and responsibilities are shared

broadly to avoid elevating (or burdening) any individuals. And if any oneperson finds that they have occupied a role for a significant time, it is helpful

if they consciously step out of that role and invite others to step into it. Truly

sharing leadership involves going beyond giving everybody the opportunity

to lead meetings to include supporting people throughout your Community

as they develop their own leadership skills. That might require working

together outside of meetings to gain skills to use within them. For example,

practicing how to facilitate a meeting with a small group before leading one

6 Baldwin, Christina and Ann Linnea. “Basic Circle Guidelines.” PeerSpirit.

<peerspirit.com/the-circle-way/circle-guidelines/>

Baldwin, Christina, Ann Linnea and Sarah MacDougall. “Components of Circle.”

PeerSpirit. <peerspirit.com/the-circle-way/components-of-circle-videos/>



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for the entire Community. When people are empowered to lead they are

empowered to contribute, which will make your meetings more effective.

• Responsibility is shared for the quality of experience. When everyone is

a leader, everyone shares responsibility for the success of your meetings.

No one person holds that responsibility alone. Engage in discussion about

what works well and what could improve. Don’t be afraid to raise an issue

that you think is important. At the same time, take care to identify or create

a useful space for these conversations either within the meeting or in

separate conversations. Interrupting a discussion about an upcoming event

to raise a concern about the agenda ignores responsibility to the group.

Work together to support your meeting structure. Collectively commit to an

approach and honor it, while being open to continual re-examination in

appropriate contexts.

• Reliance is on wholeness, rather than on any personal agenda.

Prioritizing group function promotes shared leadership and creates a safe

space for your meetings. We do not mean to suggest that you should

suppress thoughts in order to defer to the group. Instead, work to present

your thinking in a way that honors the group process. Derailing a meeting

doesn’t serve any constructive goals. When we share leadership, we cede

the ability to dictate group activity. Recognize that sometimes the most

important leadership role is allowing the group to proceed in a direction

other than the one you have said you prefer. Trust the collective wisdom of

your Community to lead in a meaningful direction.

Integrating these principles into your meeting experience builds trust. As your

Community strengthens its shared leadership practice, it creates a framework for

transformative actions. Navigating these concepts can be challenging. Three

guiding practices can help your Community share leadership.

• Speak with intention: note what has relevance to the conversation in the

moment.

• Listen with attention: respect the learning process for all members of the

group.

• Tend the well-being of the group: remain aware of the impact of your

contributions.

Keep in mind that sharing leadership is part of the goal, so strengthen those

collaboration muscles! Open your ears, open your mind, and open your heart to

your Community.



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Sharing Meeting Responsibilities

Assigning and rotating meeting responsibilit ies is an important part of empowering

each other through shared leadership. You can define specific responsibilities to

ensure someone takes ownership of important aspects of each meeting, or treat

things more loosely to stay flexible. Explore what works for your Community. Someof the functions we suggest may be unnecessary, and you may identify others that

greatly enhance your work. We would love to hear about those! We discuss some

responsibilities that may help your Community share leadership. Remember that

everyone plays a leadership role no matter what their assigned responsibilities (see

II.B Multiple Roles of Leadership: Leading in Any Role) and it is important for

everyone to identify ways to contribute in order to produce effective meetings.

Facilitator - This person facilitates, rather than leads the discussion. The facilitator

takes responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the meeting with respect to the

agenda and timeframes. The facilitator guides the Community through the sections

of the meeting, creates the space for dialog, and monitors the conversation.

Balance participating in the meeting with facilitating it. The facilitator may want to

pose a question if conversation dwindles, or bring the group back to a topic when

conversation wanders. A facilitator needs to be empowered by the group to move

conversations from topic to topic, closing them when time is over and ensuring that

all voices are heard.

Note taker - Documenting key points of your conversation can create a useful

reference for people who could not attend and serve as a historical record. Detailed

notes aren’t necessary, but a record of the topics discussed, the current status of

projects, any decisions reached, and assigned action steps can be very helpful.

Time keeper - Anyone with a timekeeping device can hold this responsibility.

Announce when time for a certain section is coming to an end, and perhaps provide

updates at certain times throughout the discussion. (“It’s been 10 minutes,” or, “2

more minutes on this topic.”) The time keeper is not responsible for stopping a

conversation - that responsibility falls to the facilitator and the group more broadly -

the time keeper simply needs to raise awareness about the amount of time

elapsed. The group can always choose to extend the time for a topic, but it is nice

to have someone tasked to highlight that need.

Stack taker - One mechanism to determine speaking order is to keep a list ofpeople who want to speak. Using a stack ensures that people can speak without

having to jump in when someone finishes speaking, which helps democratize the

discussion and avoids interruption. The facilitator can keep the stack, or designate



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it to a stack taker. People add their name to the list by raising a hand during the

conversation, and the stack taker calls on people to speak in order. The stack taker

can also prioritize someone on the list who hasn’t spoken much.

We suggest rotating responsibilities from one meeting to the next to share

leadership. If one person is an experienced facilitator, consider enlisting them to

train others in the group rather than leading every meeting. A regular note taker

may experience more opportunities to contribute to discussions in another role.

View everybody’s ability to hold multiple responsibilities over time as a valuable

contribution to the success of your Community.

Suggested Meeting Components

Articulating a clear meeting structure provides focus to your meetings. Since people

may have many different visions for what meetings look like, clarifying the structure

at the beginning of a meeting will make sure everyone has the same understandingto help keep things running smoothly. We recommend that meetings consistently

include certain sections to provide a reliable format for personal connection and

participation. Structure alone can’t create successful meetings (although it certainly

is important!) so stay in dialog with each other about what is working and what

could be better to continuously strive to improve. We encourage you to identify

meeting components that work best for your Community.

You might choose to hold a meeting at some point to talk about meeting structure

so that everyone has a space to contribute to that conversation. You may

experience a lot of give and take as you align around meeting processes, which is

part of the idea of having a conversation dedicated to that topic. Trying to hold that

conversation as part of a meeting intended to discuss hosting an Awakening the

Dreamer Symposium could be complicated. Everybody has an important

perspective to contribute about how to make meetings work for them, and learning

to incorporate many voices is part of the process. As we suggested above,

collectively commit to an approach for a meeting and honor it, while being open to

continual re-examination in appropriate contexts. We provide some suggested

components based on our experiences.

Opening - Use the opening section to bring everyone’s focus to your meeting.

People can be distracted by their to-do lists, the bad traffic they encounteredgetting to the meeting, or what to eat for dinner. It is important to have some

reminder at the beginning of the meeting that we come to this space not as just one

more task of our day to be completed, but as an opportunity to connect deeply with



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others, and with our shared commitments and values, with something greater than

ourselves. Reminding everyone of this in both a symbolic and ceremonial way, at

the beginning, will ground the meeting in an entirely different energy, and, when

done carefully, can lead to a different experience for everyone. Depending on what

your group is comfortable with, this can take many forms––even simply reading amoving quotation or reciting a powerful poem. See the Appendix and

circleswork.net/resources/centering/ for additional meeting opening suggestions.

Check-In - After the opening, go around the circle to have everyone check in and

continue building commitment to the meeting. The check-in can give everyone the

opportunity to briefly speak to how they are doing and what is going on in their life,

particularly to share anything that affects the way that they can be present during

the meeting. This is also a tangible reminder that we are not present simply to “do,”

but to “BE” with each other, and to be connected with each other in our personal

lives. The check-in can also take the form of answering a short personal question,

such as sharing a recent memorable experience, their inspiration for this work,

something they are proud of, something they are grateful for, something interesting

about them, a book or film suggestion, or anything else to help you all connect. If

someone needs more time to think of a response, they can pass until the end of the

process. Even if everyone at the meeting knows each other, this section helps bring

everyone into the discussion and have everyone’s voice heard at the very

beginning. Decide in advance if you want to set a time limit for check-ins so that

people know what to expect.

Ground Rules - Once everybody is engaged in the meeting, take time to agree

upon expectations for participation. This process may go quickly if you have aregular group of participants, but it can be beneficial to remind everyone of the

expectations to have them in mind during the meeting. Here are some suggestions

you can use in your Community:

• Speak briefly, being mindful of time for all to share. Share on the topic of

discussion.

• Speak to the whole group, not to an individual. Avoid one-to-one cross-talk,

which can exclude others or seem attacking.

• Step up, step back: Pay attention to whether you are speaking more or less

than others. If less, try to step up and speak more. If you are sharing more,

try to step back and make space for people to participate without having to

assert themselves.

• Don’t take things personally. Be open to seeing each unique perspective as

a valid experience. What someone else says isn’t “true” or “the truth,” it is



Page 24

just their perspective or their experience. As such, it may be useful

feedback for you.

• Help evolve the discussion. Listen deeply, contemplating contributions for

deeper understanding.

Establishing these types of expectations at the outset helps create space for

everyone to feel safe and contribute in meaningful ways. Brainstorm other

beneficial ideas as a Community. Remember that everyone is responsible for the

health of the group, and agreeing on ground rules ahead of time enables everyone

to collaboratively create an effective meeting dynamic.

Announcements - With ground rules in hand, people can share announcements of

important news or upcoming events. If anything requires extended discussion,

consider including it as an agenda item in the Discussion section (see below) of the

meeting. The Announcement section allows people to share information that may

not require extended discussion. People are usually passionate about theirannouncements, so it helps to keep the first ground rule above in mind: speak

briefly! You may consider establishing a one or two minute time limit for the time

keeper to track.

Reports - Distinct from announcements, this section provides space for people to

report on their ongoing Pachamama Alliance work. Progress towards hosting a

guest speaker or stories from a recent event fit well in this section. As with

Announcements, consider establishing a time limit and adding topics to the

Discussion section of the meeting if they require more time.

Discussion - This section typically comprises the bulk of a meeting and can take onmany forms. Perhaps you are discussing something you read. Maybe someone is

presenting a new idea or you invited a guest speaker. You may be identifying

opportunities to collaborate with local groups, or planning an Awakening the

Dreamer Symposium. Maybe you’re brainstorming and planning for the future.

Perhaps you’re still getting to know each other or deepening existing connections.

There are lots of possibilities! You may want to create an agenda in advance, or

generate one at this point based on everyone’s input. Regardless, be clear about

the process and be willing to modify an existing agenda based on needs that arise

in the meeting. You can prioritize topics to make sure you discuss the most

important ones, set time limits for each discussion, or just see how things develop.Maybe you want conversation to proceed around the circle so that everyone can

share without interruption, or have an open conversation where anyone can share

their thoughts. Feel free to try different formats based on the goals for any

particular meeting and talk about what works best for people. It can be very helpful



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to be clear about the intention and format before beginning the discussion so that

everyone knows what to expect! Be mindful of the ground rules everyone agreed to

earlier in the meeting, and collaborate to create collective wisdom to move your

Community forward.

Think about how to use everybody’s time effectively. Sometimes your Community

will benefit from holding certain discussions outside of a general meeting. As one

example, if your Community is hosting an event soon and half of the people at a

meeting have not engaged in the planning process, participating in an extended

discussion about it may not benefit them. In such a case, consider prioritizing other

discussions and even ending the meeting early to allow them the option to leave

before delving into planning details. At the same time, perhaps they could help with

publicity and outreach so an announcement or short discussion along those lines

could be very useful. Be clear about the agenda and open to receiving feedback in

order to empower people to collaborate effectively during meetings.

Check-Out - Before wrapping up your meeting, go around the circle again and have

people answer a check-out question. The question can prompt people to discuss

one thing they will take away from the discussion, or something they are looking

forward to after the conversation. You can ask what worked well about the meeting

structure, or ideas to improve it. Perhaps there is a final thought people want to

share to be complete. The check out round allows you to collectively sum up

everyone’s meeting experience and provides some feedback on what resonated

with people.

Closing - Finally, close the meeting with a shared group experience to mirror the

opening. Possibilities include sharing a thought, idea, story, or quote that you find

relevant to your work. Consider adding some fun with a group song, cheer, or

dance! See the Appendix for additional meeting closing suggestions.

There are infinite permutations you can use within this structure, and many others

you can try out as well. We encourage you to identify a core of meeting sections

that work reliably, and to be willing to experiment in other areas to continue growing

as a Community to serve everybody’s needs. We’ll be here to support you with our

insights and experiences along the way, and to connect you with other

Communities that can share theirs as well. We hope this process serves as a

model for creating empowering meetings by sharing leadership.



Page 26

Appendix - Opening and Closing

Suggestions

Openings

Create the Center: Set up the center of the circle with a slightly raised platform or

some fabric. In the center, place a candle, some flowers, or another meaningful

item to serve as the central axis of the group. Have each member of the circle

place a special item around the altar, expressing why they have chosen that item

for the circle gathering.

Meditation: A silent meditation serves as a good practice for leaving the hustle and

bustle of everyday life and entering the sacred work that takes place in the circle. A

few minutes of sitting in silence with eyes closed helps members of the circle focuson the work that is about to take place. A guided meditation, such as offering the

members of the circle visualization suggestions, is also rewarding. Just remember,

when doing guided meditations, less is more! It should be a gentle guiding that

leaves lots of spaciousness for people to feel and breath into what’s true for them in

the moment. This time embodies the value that our meetings and our community

are not just about “doing,” but also about “being.”

Music and Movement: Engaging and enlivening the body is a great way to focus

the mind. Members of the circle can share a recorded song, play music on their

own instruments, or sing a song a capella. Perhaps one of the members wants to

lead everyone in a movement meditation. Shaking off the dust of the day can help

the circle come alive.

Hold Hands: Everyone in the group can stand in the circle and connect by holding

hands. This allows the members of the circle to see and feel the connection that is

the basis for the circle gatherings. Have everyone go around and mention the name

of an inspiring person, or have everyone say something inspiring that happened

that day, or have everyone offer a single word that encapsulates their current

feelings.

Readings: Someone can offer a passage that is important to him or her. After

reading the passage, perhaps take a moment of reflection, then have a few people

respond to what was read. Reading responses can serve as a means for entering

into conversation, which is the foundation for any circle gathering.



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Closings

Music: Play a piece of contemplative or inspirational music to give members of the

circle some time to reflect on what was said during the day’s meeting. You can

even use the same song each week to create a sense of continuity - to build a

thread that connects each circle meeting. Feel free to add some movement as well.

Gratitude: One by one, each member of the circle offers a few words of gratitude

for another member - for an insight that was shared, a kindness that was offered, or

simply for the presence that they bring to the group. Be careful not to leave anyone

out inadvertently, though!

Group Spiral: The group spiral is a really fun way to close a Circle and engender a

feeling of closeness between members of the group. One person breaks hands

with one of the people they are standing beside while keeping contact with the

other, moving into the center of the circle, winding tighter and tighter into a spiral.

And for extra credit: the leader can reverse course in the middle of a moderatelytight spiral, spiraling outward and ending in an outward-facing circle (try it--it

works!).

Hold Hands: Everyone in the group can stand in the circle and connect by holding

hands. This allows the members of the circle to see and feel the connection that is

the basis for the circle gatherings. Have everyone go around and offer a single

word that encapsulates their current feelings.



The Pachamama Alliance is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco. Its mission is to empower

indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest to preserve their lands and culture and, using insights gained from that

work, to educate and inspire individuals everywhere to bring forth a thriving, just and sustainable world.

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