Do you have the 3 strategic tools to THRIVE in these times?
Claim the power of Story, Questions & Hosting. Here's how...
Download my free "Art of Powerful Questions" PDF
It may seem strange, but when times are changing it is easy to get stuck...
Often, when we sense the ground shifting beneath our feet, we try to hang on to something familiar. To try to move beyond discomfort as quickly as possible. To try harder with what we already know. This is a natural reaction to change.
But within any disruption are the seeds of possibility. The opportunity to start fresh and to see things in new ways. There is amazing potential inside of every individual, every group and every system.
There is a potential inside an acorn which can grow into a mighty oak.
Something is possible now that was not possible before. But we can only go there together.
Do you have the strategic tools you need to thrive in these times?
The 3 strategic tools you need
Questions
Asking a powerful question is the most simple and powerful way to make change.
A powerful question can open the doorway to a fresh perspective; a new way of looking at things. It surfaces assumptions. It stimulates new thinking and invites creativity. It can change everything.
A question can help surface stories holding the wisdom we need now for better ways of living and working together. It can spark the conversations we most need to have. It is an immediate and simple intervention into any system.
Working with powerful questions is both a leadership and a life skill. The capacity to hold space for the bigger question is what we now need in turbulent times.
Story
The most important stories in the world are hidden inside us. They are our lens on the world. They frame what we see and who we can be as a result.
Every individual also holds the gold of their lived experience in story form inside them. This is where our deepest wisdom lies.
When we change the stories we live in collectively, at work and in the spheres we are part of -- when they are more positive and generative -- life gets better for everyone. Work becomes more fulfilling, community becomes more connected and everyone benefits.
The power of transformation lies in the stories we choose to activate. In life, at work, in society: It's time to tell a better story.
Hosting
A key roles of leadership is holding a vision of the future we are moving towards. But to reach tht future we must co-create it.
Unless you can go there together – even when the going gets tough – you will not have the energy and commitment to make the vision a reality.
Participatory practice offers a way to grow the capacity to host, harvest and move on the conversations that really matter. It profoundly shifts the intention, attention and energy within individuals, groups and systems
When we move from hero to host, focusing on a balance of task and relationship, we create the leverage point to move to wiser action. We unleash the full potential of us all.
Strengthen the elements you need to thrive
Finding ground in times of turbulence needs more than technique. It needs capacity.
Powerful questions open the door to new perspectives and new possibilities. They trigger potent stories carrying the gold of lived experience. Stories in turn lead to compelling conversations. When you then work together to make collective sense and meaning, the whole system moves to higher ground. We get wiser and more capable together.
Together these aspects form a potent strategy. When you work with these elements as an individual, you build personal and interpersonal capacity. When we work with them together -- as leaders in work and life -- we increase energy and the capacity for collective wise action.
When we situate these capacities within a hosting field, the vibrant life of a bee hive arises.
SOAR works with building capacity in these core aspects to bring vibrant life to individuals, groups and systems.
Whatever the change you're seeking, the questions you ask, the story you tell and how you host it into life are the secret.
Why do stories matter?
Hosting brave & transformative spaces
Regular updates
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READY FOR THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME?
Stories & Questions are your power partners
Discover the power of stories and questions by taking a handcrafted adventure.
- Changing your story is the first step to changing your world.
- A powerful question is a doorway into a whole new perspective on life.
Your adventure comes directly into your inbox.
Ready? LET'S GO!
Choose from...
Story Adventures
A smorgasbord of STORY ADVENTURES will shine a light on the stories that shape you and help you shape the world.
Question Adventures
A tempting menu of QUESTION ADVENTURES will take you around the outer and inner worlds. Meet challenges, deepen your relationships, create your future.
More to explore -- upcoming live events
Join a 90 minute online session on THE ART OF POWERFUL QUESTIONS
Finding, crafting and working with powerful questions is a key leadership and facilitation skill. In this quick and participatory 90 minutes you'll learn why questions are so important, how they work and how to work with them.
With Mary Alice Arthur & Flow Game Hosts from around the world
Join a free online session
Got a question that matters
Thirsty for answers?
Longing for more but don't know how to get there? Join a Flow Game to get joyfully & playfully unstuck for 2026 in only 2.5 hours. Personalised coaching & targeted wisdom in an intimate small group setting.
CONSIDER THIS: Getting yourself to where you want to be in your life is not about trying harder to get the right answers. It's about playfully asking the right question and receiving the wisdom that's already waiting for you.
Wait, what? Could it be that easy?
Have you ever thought to yourself that if you only had the right answer, then all of life would fall into place?
What if it is all about about asking the right questions and bringing a sense of playful ease to what you discover as a result?
The intimate setting of a Flow Game helps you find the wisdom to take on your life with confidence, courage and energy.
You'll get personal, focused coaching and the wisdom of a small group of up to 8 other players.
A Flow Game helps you find the wisdom to take on your life with confidence, courage and energy.
It's the best 2.5 hours you could invest in yourself!
Online, begins April 7
At Work in the Ruins
How do we stay in relationship and what have we learned about collaboration that we need now in these times of turbulent change?
It would be easy to believe we are facing the end of the world. But as our oldest myths and stories remind us -- the end of the world as we know it is not the end of the world.
So what can we do when we are facing chaos and finding ourselves sitting in the ruins -- however you are experiencing right now?
How can we make a space within ourselves and together to turn and face the sense of loss, grief, anger and overwhelm that breakdown thrusts upon us?
How can we stay together when everything around us seems to be falling apart?
Especially as people who have worked as changemakers and who hold spaces for people to make good change together, what do we need to learn from these times?
Dougald Hine's book At Work in the Ruins offers us four tasks that can help us make sense of what is taking place.
There is work to do, even in the ruins.
Join us for a collective inquiry into how we accompany each other in this time of collapse and profound change.
5 online sessions
Denmark May 1 - 3
The Heart of Practice
What is your practice? Who are you in practice with?
Many of us feel that we are at an important inflexion point in the world. At this time of confusion and turmoil, your solid ground is inside you and between you and others.
What we do now will ripple into the future.
Toke Møller, Mary Alice Arthur, Rowan Simonsen and Maja Rottbøll been exploring individually and collectively for decades about what the heart of practice really means.
What lies beneath the practice patterns we love and use? What can make the difference now? What are the mother practices that can hold us in these times?
Together we will dive deeply into what's at the very heart of practice and the practice of the heart as a host, a leader, a team mate, an activist, a thought leader and as a deeply rooted human being.
We will look at what's at the core and what's at the edges, and give you spaciousness to discover the best of you.
Join us in one of the most beautiful corners of Denmark for a retreat that nourishes the practitioner's heart, mind and soul.
I'm Mary Alice
I've been travelling the world and going in and out of organizations, systems, communities and cultures for decades. In working with both individuals and groups, I realized QUESTIONS, STORY and HOSTING are the secret superpower of humanity. The questions we ask, the stories we tell and how we work with each other are creating the world we're living in. Every moment. Every day. Experience by experience.
When these three powerful tools work together they create the roadmap for enabling your purpose in the world.
Your questions open the door. Your story acts as a beacon lighting the way. Your capacity to to work together is what brings it all to life.
What most people don't realise is that you aren't stuck with the current situation -- you can make the choice to activate a better future.
I guide people longing to live a larger and more authentic life to uncover and craft the questions and stories that call them to live that life. And I work with groups to help them build the capacities that will bring their vision and potential into focus and action.
I just love working with groups! Here's Brian Tarallo's harvest of my workshop "Change Your Story, Change the World" at the Power of Visuals Week-a-thon. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO EXPAND IT
"I turned to Mary Alice for support in a critical time in my work to successfully navigate a difficult merger and rebuild the team. I consider the coaching and support key factors in the success of this project. Her warm and wise presence by my side empowered me and impacted the entire organization with lasting results."
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Nora Ganescu
Consultant & coach, Slovakia
"Mary Alice has been a guide on our journey of service transformation in different ways over seven years. She brings crisp clarity, sharp focus, deep wisdom and a collection of stories that create space for potent conversations and insights."
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Penny Hamilton
Former Strategic Partnerships Manager, Uniting Care, Queensland, Australia
"Mary Alice has the sort of grounded presence that can hold a group of any size. I experienced her leading one of the best conferences I've attended. Many people are competent and skilled. Mary Alice has that extra spark that makes her truly inspirational."
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David Sibbet
Founder, The Grove Consultants International, USA
