Guiding Council
A Facilitated Process for Deep Alignment, Decision-making, and Action
You need to move major change forward,
but the differences in the room are real.
A standard committee, task force, or another round of surveys and meetings won’t get where you need to go.
Getting people with different perspectives and priorities aligned across roles, identities, and power is critical.
But ultimately,
the goal is major movement, not just better meetings.
A Guiding Council
brings together a representative body of stakeholder leaders across differences to build the deep trust, shared understanding, and collective alignment needed for clear decisions and decisive action.
A Guiding Council serves when
deep alignment is essential
and an ordinary committee isn’t enough.
Differences are central
Roles, identities, culture, or power make the work highly complex.
Priorities compete
Stakeholders need to move together, but each come with different hopes and needs.
Inclusion is essential
Progress depends on involving the people most affected by the work.
Agreement is shallow
People nod in meetings, but pushback surfaces afterward.
Authority is distributed
No one person can make decisions that hold for everyone.
Buy-in is critical
Success depends on genuine commitment and shared ownership.
“The process was amazingly successful at overcoming the hierarchical structure and power dynamics of the community.
The group developed skills and trust that allowed us to discuss sensitive areas honestly.
It helped people actually listen and focus on constructive ideas for how to move forward.
I would counsel others that it’s critical to get sufficient buy-in [so that] people are willing to devote the time required, [but] it was definitely 'worth it’.”
Martha Cyert, PhD
Professor and Chair,
Department of Biology, Stanford University
Find the Way Forward.
Why It Works
Human dynamics are worked through, not worked around. The process attends to relationships, histories, emotions, and motivations rather than bypassing them to reach surface-level agreement that later falls apart.
Conversations are both inclusive and decisive. The process provides space to work things through without devolving into debate or endless discussion.
Decisions are collectively owned. Because the process is inclusive and decisions are co-created, buy-in carries through into implementation.
An experienced guide holds the process. External facilitation supports the process so stakeholders and leaders can fully, honestly, and equitably participate.
The Guiding Council framework
is distilled from field-tested conflict transformation and organizational change leadership processes to help a diverse or divided group of stakeholders work through real differences while moving toward clear decisions and cooperative action.
The Guiding Council Process & Investment
A typical engagement follows a 5-stage progression, tailored to the complexity of the work, and the number, availability, and capacity of participants.
1. Formation
↓
2. Naming & Mapping
↓
3. Critical Dialogue
↓
4. Alignment & Decision
↓
5. Implementation & Stewardship
Investment
Starting at $9,000
Format
In-person, Virtual, or Hybrid
Timeline
Ranging from 4-day Intensive
to 16-Week Project
The path forward is the one paved together.
Let’s connect about the work you're trying to move. We'll talk through your situation and discuss whether a Guiding Council or another approach is the right fit.