People have innate motivations to have honest conversations with people we trust. It’s built into our DNA.

Who do we talk to when we face difficult decisions or even have great joy or sorrow in our lives?

The challenges we all face have exploded as never before in complexity and confusion and are so huge that we cannot rely only on ourselves or the general community at large or even those in our organizations to assure we stay on track and offer us support.

We need a small trusted group of people we can share the intimate details of our lives with and who care about us and in whom we can trust; a small group who can share our happiness, sadness, hopes, fears, beliefs, values, and convictions.

Bill George in preparation for his book True North reviewed transcripts from 125 leaders and determined one of the keys to sustaining leadership is having a trusted support team. It is one of the most important things people can do to stay grounded and increase in the critical leadership skill of self-awareness.

The paradox of our individualistic society is as we spend more and more time in organizations which are getting more and more impersonal, we feel the ever increasing need for in depth, authentic, open relationships. Left ever more to ourselves, with no counsel or advice, it is harder to be self-aware and we become prone to bad decisions.

The bottom line is people yearn for friendships with people they can trust and admire!
Catalyst Cohorts was built to become this kind of a safe haven. Differences in beliefs and backgrounds serve to enrich the counsel and mentoring, and over time trusted relationships are built.