A personal board of directors for each of our members.
6 want this · 1 support
Everything said in forum is confidential.
You are free to talk about your own experience in forum — what you brought, and what it meant to you. What another member shared stays in the room.
You may not share another member’s material with anyone, including a spouse or partner.
This holds outside the meeting as well. A conversation in a hallway, on a call, or in a message thread carries the same confidentiality as the meeting itself.
Whoever discovers a breach brings it to the moderator and to the member affected. If the breach was deliberate, the full forum discusses it, and the member may be asked to resign.
Confidentiality does not hold where there is a risk of serious harm, or where the law requires disclosure.
4 want this · 2 support · 1 hesitation
We meet monthly, breaking for July and August.
We meet in person, and join by video only when travel makes the room impossible.
In-person meetings run three to four hours. Virtual meetings run two and a half.
We set the full year of dates before the year begins, and we hold them the way we would hold a board meeting.
4 want this · 1 support · 2 hesitations Split — worth discussing
We hold one retreat a year, a day and a half at minimum.
We stay overnight in the same place rather than going home at the end of the first day.
We expect everyone to attend, and missing a retreat always prompts a conversation with the forum.
Emergencies happen — a funeral, a birth — and the forum talks about them rather than dismissing anyone. A pattern of missed retreats is usually a sign that a member is withdrawing.
3 want this · 2 support · 2 can live with it
Forum is a priority in our lives. We expect full attendance.
If you cannot make a meeting, tell the moderator as far ahead as you can, and tell the moderator only.
Whether a small meeting still runs is the moderator’s call. The default is to meet: small meetings are often the best ones, and members who arranged their lives to be there should not lose the meeting.
Two missed meetings in a year opens a conversation with the group about your commitment.
5 want this · 2 support
Meetings start and end on time, beginning at the stated hour whether or not everyone has arrived.
If you need to leave early, say so at the start.
Devices are off. If you must check one, tell the group why before you do.
4 want this · 2 support · 1 can’t live with it
A member cannot live with this tenet as written. The tenet does not stand until the group has resolved it. The moderator has the member’s note.
6 want this · 1 can live with it
Each of us presents once a year and coaches another presenter once a year.
The moderator keeps a rolling twelve month schedule, so everyone can see when their turn is coming.
Presenters are named at least a month ahead.
4 want this · 3 support
We speak from our own experience. We do not give advice.
We say what happened to us and what we learned, and we leave the decision with the presenter.
Anyone may name it in the moment when the room drifts into advice.
7 want this
New members join by unanimous agreement of the forum.
Before a first meeting, a new member has an orientation call with the moderator, and does a lifeline exercise at their first meeting.
Fees are paid in two parts. A new member who attends three meetings and decides forum is not for them may step away, and the first payment is returned.
After three meetings, you are a member. There is no continuing trial.
5 want this · 2 support
A member who is thinking about leaving is encouraged to present that thinking to the group, rather than making a unilateral decision in their own head.
A member leaving the forum makes an exit presentation.
Notice is given at least one meeting ahead.
A departing member remains responsible for costs the forum has already committed on their behalf.
6 want this · 1 support
We read this document in full once a year, at or near the retreat.
Changes between annual reviews require the agreement of every member.
The purpose, the confidentiality tenet, and this rule itself change only by unanimous agreement.
We, being present, adopt this constitution and set our hands to uphold it.
The Second Monday Forum · 7 of 7 responded — two after the day-3 reminder, none needed the second
I could live with this if one planned video join per quarter were allowed — my travel schedule makes twice a year impossible.Talk with Marcus before the adoption meeting, and bring a proposal the group can resolve together.