How Do Leaders Stay Grounded During Uncertainty? | Joni Mar Leads a Real Coaching Session

Summary:

If you lead others through uncertainty while privately wondering how to stay grounded yourself, this episode is the most honest conversation you'll see today.

What happens when the person usually holding the space… becomes the one being held?

This week, join us for a deeply personal episode of The UpLevel Podcast; the script is flipped.

For the first time this season, our host Christie Mann fully steps into the client's seat and is coached live by her longtime mentor, dear friend, and master coach, Joni Mar.

What unfolds is a raw, honest, and deeply human conversation about fear, leadership, uncertainty, and what it means to continue showing up in a rapidly changing environment.

As Season 11 centers on stewardship, this episode offers a deeply human example of what it means to embody the work rather than simply discuss it.

Together, Christie and Joni move beneath analysis and into embodiment—exploring anxiety around travel, leadership, safety, isolation, responsibility, and the emotional toll of living in a world that feels increasingly volatile.

What emerges is a powerful reminder: Leadership isn't about having it all together. It's about staying human enough to remain connected—to ourselves, to others, and to the work we're here to do.

In This Episode:

• What live coaching actually looks and feels like

• The emotional reality many leaders are carrying right now

• How fear and uncertainty show up in the body

• Why grounding practices matter more than ever

• The paradox of creating safety while still answering the call to lead

• What it means to steward yourself while stewarding other

Order of Topics:

• Designing the Coaching Session

• Naming the Topic: Anxiety in a Changing World

• Exploring Physical and Emotional Sensations

• Confronting Isolation and Vulnerability

• Returning to Presence and Grounding

• The Paradox of Growth and Leadership

• Accepting Authentic Leadership in Uncertainty

• Grounding and Self-Regulation Practices

• Micro-Grounding and Coming Home to Self

• Closing Reflections: Purpose, Support, and Collective Leadership

  
  

Action Items:

• Create a Safe Coaching Environment

  • Establish Boundaries: Begin sessions by co-creating the environment, discussing boundaries and needs.

  • Build Trust: Foster psychological safety to allow for open and vulnerable discussions.

• Manage Emotional Vulnerability

  • Acknowledge Emotions: Recognize feelings of vulnerability, especially when exposed publicly.

  • Model Professional Responsibility: Engage in personal inner work openly to illustrate its value.

• Identify and Address Anxiety Sources

  • Name Your Fears: Clearly identify sources of anxiety—whether global events or professional commitments.

  • Understand Self-perception Conflicts: Reflect on how current emotions might clash with your usual outlook.

• Explore Somatic Experiences

  • Be Present with Physical Sensations: Notice bodily responses like chest tightness or shallow breathing during stress.

  • Use Metaphors for Understanding Emotions: Visualize emotional states through metaphors (e.g., feeling isolated in a "concrete room").

• Facilitate Awareness Through Coaching Techniques

  • Encourage clients to stay grounded in their somatic experiences rather than intellectualizing them.

• Balance Personal Life with Professional Roles

  • Explore the tension between personal desires (safety, connection) and professional responsibilities (public leadership).

• Achieve Breakthroughs Through Reframing

  • Reframe struggles as opportunities for growth; view tensions as part of your leadership curriculum.

• Develop Resilience Strategies

  • Incorporate daily grounding practices into routines, such as meditation or quiet reflection each morning while traveling.

• Leverage Personal Sanctuary Resources

  • Translate elements from your safe spaces ("jungle medicine") into stressful environments via journaling or reflection.

• Maintain Ongoing Reflection & Accountability

  • Use journaling to track progress and regularly share insights with accountability

About Joni:

Joni Mar, MCC, CPCC, CNTC, CTIC

For more than two decades, Joni Mar has been helping leaders wrestle with a deceptively simple question: Who do I need to become to lead what's next?

Known for her warmth, grounded presence, and ability to ask the question beneath the question, she helps leaders uncover the hidden patterns shaping how they think, decide, and lead. Joni believes the most powerful leadership shift is expanding a leader's awareness of who they are being while they lead because the hardest part of leadership isn't strategy, it's identity.

A Master Certified Executive Leadership Coach and senior faculty member with the Co-Active Training Institute, Joni has been training coaches since 2003.

An early contributor to the global expansion of coaching, Joni introduced Co-Active Coaching to the Hong Kong market and has spent more than a decade working between North America, Asia and Europe, bringing a deeply cross-cultural lens to leadership and human development.

A long-time steward of the field, Joni now focuses on supporting the next generation of coaches and helping leaders bring greater wisdom, compassion, and courage into the systems they serve.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonimar/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joni.mar/

🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts

🎉 It was also ranked #4 among the top 50 Best Workplace Mental Health Podcasts! https://podcast.feedspot.com/workplace_mental_health_podcasts

About UpLevel Productions: Founded by Christie Mann, MA, CPCC, PCC, and Rachel Baldi, CPCC, PCC, UpLevel creates, produces, and delivers Transformative Experiences, Workshops, Training, Events + Media that develop leaders who make our world a healthier, more alive, and connected place to be. As Associate CTI Faculty Partners, UpLevel is licensed to sell, produce, and deliver Co-Active coach training and leadership development programs around the world to support the transformational growth of individuals and culture inside the workplace and organization. www.uplevelproductions.com Instagram @uplevelproductions Facebook & LinkedIn @uplevelproductionscompany