Grounded
A Practical Path for Calm and Confident Leadership
Katrina Bourke
In Grounded: A Practical Path for Calm and Confident Leadership, Katrina Bourke offers an honest and deeply human companion for those who lead in busy, high-stakes settings. From her own journey through burnout to renewal, she refuses quick fixes, instead guiding readers into steadier patterns.
Bourke’s Grounded Framework unfolds in four stages (Decide, Explore, Honour and Lead) inviting leaders to name their priorities, observe the patterns that bind them, build sustainable habits, and step forward with clarity. Throughout, she weaves in narrative snapshots of real educators wrestling with similar tensions, and pairs them with reflection prompts and modest practices that can be seeded immediately into one’s context.
A highlight is the acceptance of the ordinary struggle: “paddling furiously beneath a calm surface.” That image lingers. Bourke doesn’t imply you’ll never feel pressure again, rather, she offers tools to remain anchored when it comes. The balance between story and structure is well struck: there’s enough theory to orient you and enough concrete practice to experiment with in your own rhythm.
If I were summarising this in a staffroom, I’d say: Grounded understands the messiness of leadership, speaks with empathy, and gives you gentle space to experiment rather than press you to change overnight. You’ll finish the book carrying a few prompts or questions you’ll want to test tomorrow whether that is in a meeting, a conversation, or a moment of doubt.
Grounded is worth your time if, like myself, you believe leaders should be celebrated for bringing vulnerability, rigour and care to their roles each and every day.
