GROUND UP · MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP
For the senior leader who becomes someone else under pressure
Ground Up is a weekly small group where you bring a real leadership challenge and work on it with peers. Underneath the leadership skills sits body-based work that keeps you steady enough to use them.
RUDI'S BACKGROUND
- INSEAD Executive Master in Change
- Harvard Kennedy School
- Kansas Leadership Center
- Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Teaching Assistant
- Internal Family Systems trained
- Performance Coach, Stand and Deliver
- Transformation Faculty, Mobius
Who this is for
Most people who come to me are very good at their jobs. Somewhere along the way they got so good at meeting other people's expectations that they stopped noticing their own. They sleep badly, they say yes before they've thought about it, and they run on adrenaline until the weekend, when they crash.
More systems and better routines rarely fix this on their own. When your body has been on alert for years, new habits tend to slip the moment pressure returns.
Most also arrive with something specific, such as a conversation they keep postponing or a team that won't pull together. Ground Up suits senior leaders and professionals who want to handle challenges like these without the way they're succeeding costing them so much. It isn't a substitute for clinical mental health care, and I'll tell you in the strategy session if I think something else would serve you better.
Waiting for a quieter month
Most people I work with have already tried waiting until things settle down, after the restructure or once the financial year closes. The quieter month rarely arrives. In the meantime the cost keeps building, usually in sleep, health and the relationships closest to home.
If you've been putting this off, the strategy session is a low-stakes place to start. It's forty-five minutes, it's free, and you'll come away with a clearer picture whether or not you join.
How Ground Up works
You bring one leadership challenge you're facing right now. Each week, the group works on a skill that bears on it, using members' real situations as the material. Skills learned in a calm room tend to vanish in a tense meeting, so we work with the body as well.
WHY WE START WITH THE BODY
Skills only help if you're steady enough to use them
Most people already know they should push back, listen longer or decide sooner. Under pressure, the body gets there first and the old reaction wins. Somatic Experiencing, TRE and polyvagal practices help you notice that moment and stay steady through it, which is what lets a new skill hold when it counts. If it would help, I'll also connect you with a naturopath for support with sleep, food and energy.
THE THREE LEVELS
What we work on
Everyone starts with steadiness. From there, the group works across all three levels, always tied back to the challenges members bring. You'll reflect on each level when you join and every three months, so you can see what's moved.
Steadiness
Staying grounded under pressure, so the rest is available when you need it. This is also where behaviour change takes root, and where parts work helps with whatever pulls you back to old habits.
Clarity
Making decisions with incomplete information, and seeing a problem the way others see it, especially the people you find hardest to work with.
Connection
Communicating with presence, including the high-stakes conversations you'd rather avoid. Saying no in a culture that rewards yes, and working across teams and through office politics.
What we're working toward
Ground Up is new, so I can't yet share what members say about it. I can tell you where people usually arrive and what the program aims for.
Where people usually start
Most arrive with a challenge that's been sitting with them for a while. They're usually tired and saying yes too often, and they can't tell whether the problem is the job or the way they're doing it.
What the work aims for
The aim is real movement on the challenge you brought. Along the way, you should notice pressure building sooner and find it easier to say no. Hard conversations should also carry less dread, because you've rehearsed them and your body has learned to stay with them.
Why it's run as a group
Senior people rarely get to talk honestly with peers about what this is costing them. The weekly group gives you that, with a small group of others who understand the pressure without being part of your organisation.
It's also where much of the practical work happens. We rehearse difficult conversations and test decisions against other people's perspectives. Members try a new approach during the week and report back on what happened. Seeing someone else work through your exact pattern often shifts more than talking about it alone. Because people join at different times, newer members also hear from those further along.
What's included
A weekly group session
Ninety minutes each week, in a group of up to twelve. Online, Wednesdays from 6 to 7:30pm Melbourne time.
Short recorded practices
Five to ten minutes each, for the days between sessions when you need something to come back to.
Regular check-ins
A reflection on the three levels when you join and every three months, so you can see what's moved.
One-to-one when you want it
Book individual sessions with me whenever you'd like more focused time. These are charged separately.
A naturopath introduction
If you'd like support with sleep, food or energy, I'll connect you with a naturopath I trust. Their fees are separate.
How Ground Up compares
Therapy
Good at: deep, often long-term work on history, relationships and mental health, including somatic approaches.
Less often covers: the specifics of how your working week and workplace run.
Suits: anyone dealing with trauma or a condition that needs clinical care.
Executive coaching
Good at: clear goals, leadership skills and accountability.
Less often covers: what your body and inner conflicts are doing while you try to follow the plan.
Suits: leaders who already feel steady and want to sharpen how they perform.
Productivity programs
Good at: tools and routines for organising work.
Less often covers: why the routines slip once the pressure returns.
Suits: people who are mostly well and just need more structure.
Ground Up
What we do: work on a real leadership challenge each week, building the skills it needs alongside the steadiness that makes them hold.
What's different: leadership development and somatic work happen in the same room, led by someone trained in both.
Suits: capable people who know what needs to change and can't seem to make it stick.
You'll leave with an outline of what working together would look like, whether or not we go ahead.
About Rudi
I spent fifteen years as a technology consultant in Amsterdam, Singapore and Australia before retraining in leadership development, executive coaching and somatic work. I've coached senior leaders at Google, Microsoft, McKinsey and BHP, among others.
My leadership work draws heavily on adaptive leadership, and that mix is the point of Ground Up. I understand the pressure of a senior role from the inside, and I know how to work with the body that's carrying it.
INSEAD Executive Master in Change · ICF Professional Certified Coach · Somatic Experiencing Practitioner · IFS Level 1 · Certified TRE provider
Dates and fees
Membership is $495 a month including GST. There's no contract or lock-in, and you can cancel at any time with 30 days' notice.
The weekly group works across all three levels, so you can join in any month. Everyone starts with steadiness and builds from there. The first group meets on Wednesday 3 February 2027, then online every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30pm Melbourne time.
Individual sessions are $330 for 60 minutes or $495 for 90 minutes, including GST.
Common questions
How is this different from therapy?
Ground Up is a coaching program that draws on somatic and parts-based methods. It's designed for people who are functioning but stretched, and it doesn't treat mental health conditions. If I think you need clinical care, I'll tell you and help you find it.
Can I really cancel at any time?
Yes, with 30 days' notice. I'd encourage you to give it at least three months, since new skills take time to hold under pressure, but the choice is yours.
What if I miss a session?
Weeks get busy. The recorded practices for each theme stay available, so you can catch up and rejoin the following week. The group sessions themselves aren't recorded, to keep the room confidential.
Can my employer pay?
Yes. I can invoice your organisation directly. The focus on leadership skills, such as communication and decision-making, sits comfortably within most leadership development budgets.
Start with a conversation
The strategy session is free and takes forty-five minutes. We'll talk about what's going on, what you've already tried, and whether Ground Up is the right fit.
Book your strategy session