PREFACE

SINCE 1975, WE HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN small, personal groups that serve as the inspiration and the basis for True North Groups. True North Groups comprise six to eight peers who meet on a regular basis to discuss the important questions of their lives and to support each other during difficult times.

These groups have been a godsend in our lives and in the lives of hundreds of people we know. They have helped us navigate personal challenges with our families, our careers, and our health. They have provided a forum for addressing life’s most difficult questions about our beliefs, our values, and the meaning and purpose of our lives.

Over the years we have frequently been asked by friends and acquaintances, “How can I form such a group?” Originally, we set out to write a book to answer that question, a “how to” manual for creating True North Groups, as both of us do in our work these days.

As we interviewed a wide range of people participating in groups and studied the small-group movement in its larger sociological context, however, we recognized there is a much greater need for these groups and that they are part of a broader societal shift toward forming small groups. Thus, we expanded our focus to looking at the essential role True North Groups can play in human growth and leadership development and in filling the void that many of us feel in our lives.

We believe there is a unique role for personal, intimate groups that differs from the multitude of groups formed for specific purposes. By providing a safe place for deep, intimate discussions about life’s most challenging questions, True North Groups enable us to become fully human and more fully alive, awakening to the enormous possibilities within each of us. They are the best vehicle we know for helping us develop as human beings and as leaders. In a world where the difficulties we face every day often feel overwhelming, True North Groups provide a powerful path between our personal lives and the organizations we participate in.

This book is written for you, if you are interested in forming such a group. Or perhaps you want to enable your current group to have deeper and more meaningful discussions about the vital questions of life. It offers you a deeper understanding of the vital role a True North Group can play in your life and how you can form one. It shows how to create sound norms that enable the group to navigate successfully through the inevitable storms that all groups encounter and to emerge as a high-performing group.

It is our hope that your experiences with your groups will be as meaningful and rewarding as ours have been.

Bill George and Doug Baker
Minneapolis, Minnesota
April 2011