The Facilitative Leader Workshop


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“I found the workshop a life changing experience, and specifically, I had been approaching lots of situations from a control orientation – I entered the workshop very cynical about what I was going to learn – I left with a fundamentally different approach to the most stressful, complex and difficult situations I face as a leader.” George Langdon
Vice President, Groupcast Strategic Initiatives, IDX Corporation
"I expected skills as a facilitator. I didn't expect such a revolutionary way to deal with myself. It did boost my facilitation skills in an amazing way - there's no question about that - but it also made me more effective in dealing with people in general." Susan Colten
Senior Manager, Hot Fill Supply Chain
PepsiCo Beverages and Foods

The Facilitative Leader Workshop Outcomes
This four-day experience offers you and other leaders or team members a detailed, comprehensive approach to increasing your effectiveness, and gives you intensive, supervised practice, so that you leave the workshop being able to lead, manage and participate in teams much more effectively.

The rest of this page lists the outcomes that The Facilitative Leader workshop makes possible for you, and the design and content of the workshop itself. To learn more about the way we'd work with you to help you maximize the results you get from any of our workshops, click here.

Who Should Attend
We've designed this workshop for executives, managers, or team members, and people who want to learn our approach to developing leaders and highly effective teams.

Workshop Outcomes
At the Facilitative Leader workshop, you'll learn to create these outcomes:

  • More team accountability
  • Less dependence on the formal leader of a group
  • Decisions that get better results
  • Decisions that people actively support
  • Decisions that save time
  • Better relationships – at work and in your personal life
  • More personal satisfaction and less stress
  • Learning that allows you and others to adapt and change where most others can't
Whether in one-on-one, group or organizational settings, you'll lead in the following ways if you implement your learning from our Facilitative Leader workshop:

You'll be more Transparent
When you implement your learning, you'll share your reasoning and intent underlying your statements, questions and actions, and your actions will match what you say much more closely than they did before. You'll invite others to do the same. This reduces the need for people to make assumptions about what you say and do, which increases trust. It also helps you and your colleagues make more informed decisions about how to move forward.

You'll be more Curious
When you implement your learning, you'll be more genuinely curious about how others are thinking about issues, especially when others seem to have different or irrational points of view on these issues. You'll seek to understand others points of view to their satisfaction. You'll invite others to be more curious as well. This creates learning and trust, and reduces defensiveness, particularly in difficult circumstances.

You'll have more Compassion
When you implement your learning, you'll develop a greater concern for the good of others and yourself. You'll blame and judge less, and seek to appreciate and help more. You'll invite others to do the same. This allows you to involve and energize others in seeking solutions to existing challenges, which improves your and their organization's performance.

You'll be more Accountable
When you implement your learning, you'll hold yourself and others accountable for their actions. You'll make commitments to improve your effectiveness, and actively seek feedback as to your progress. You'll invite others to do the same. You'll also hold yourself accountable for your thoughts; if they are relevant, you'll work to share them, even if it's difficult to do so. This makes it much more likely that you will improve as a leader over time.

You'll be more Committed
When you implement your learning, you'll be more internally committed to your actions, and seek solutions that leave others feeling the same way. You'll actively explore your and others reservations and concerns on any given issue, and work to avoid manipulation and coercion. This helps you and others achieve lasting results that wouldn't be possible without the support and creativity of all involved.

This style of leadership is infectious; even those that have not worked with us directly can see its benefits, and begin to try to apply it themselves, while inviting feedback and support from others. In this way, you'll begin to independently develop your group or organization's leadership capacity; you'll improve your organization's performance as a result.

Register for The Facilitative Leader Public Workshop

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The Facilitative Leader Workshop Detailed Agenda

Day 1

  • Introductions, Expectations, Workshop Overview, and Working Together
    The workshop begins with you, your co-participants and instructors introducing yourselves, sharing your expectations for the workshop, reviewing (and modifying if necessary) the fit between your expectations and the workshop design, and reaching agreements on how we will work together in the workshop.
     
  • What Makes Work Groups Effective
    In this section, you’ll learn three criteria for assessing whether a group is effective and learn the elements necessary for developing effective group process, group structure, and maintaining a supportive organizational context. You’ll practice using the group effectiveness model to diagnose strengths and weaknesses of groups you have led or been a member of.
     
  • The Facilitative Leader in Action
    In this section, an instructor plays a facilitative leader having a brief problem solving meeting with his or her team members (role played by a few workshop members). You’ll observe the role play and identify and discuss specific behaviors of the facilitative leader approach and the principles underlying them.
     
  • What is The Facilitative Leader Approach
    Here you’ll explore the elements of The Facilitative Leader Approach:
    • Operating from a set of core values and ground rules;
    • Thinking and acting systemically;
    • Increasing group member responsibility and reducing unnecessary dependence; and
    • Creating conditions for mutual learning.
       
  • You’ll learn the four core values (valid information, free and informed choice, internal commitment and compassion) that underlie effective The Facilitative Leader Approach. You’ll learn how the facilitative leader's role is similar to and different from other roles such as traditional leader and facilitator.
     
  • The Facilitative Leader Challenge - Understanding Theory-in-Use
    Theory-in-use is a term that includes the values and beliefs that guide peoples' behavior, especially in difficult situations. Through an exercise, we help you see how your theories-in-use may lead you to create the very situations you are trying to avoid--mistrust, defensive behavior, poor problem solving, and limited group learning. To do this, you’ll write a case study (known as a left-hand column case) of a difficult conversation you’ve had, in which you include the thoughts and feelings you had during the conversation. We’ll analyze your case study prior to the workshop, give you written and verbal feedback, and you’ll explore it using exercises.
     
  • Using Ground Rules to Develop Effective Groups
    Here we discuss and practice using the ground rules that stem from the core values and that lead to effective Facilitative Leader behavior and group behavior. The ground rules include: test assumptions and inferences; share all relevant information; use specific examples; explain your reasoning and intent; combine advocacy and inquiry; and discuss undiscussable issues. Through discussion and exercises using your own left-hand-column cases, you and your co-participants will learn why, when, and how to use each of the ground rules, and how they lead to effective group behavior.
     
  • Self-Critique
    At the end of each day we conduct a self-critique to get feedback about the day. We’ll discuss what went well and what to improve.

Day 2

  • Using Ground rules to Develop Effective Groups
    (continued from day 1)
     
  • Analyzing and Changing Your Theory-in-Use
    In small groups with instructors, you’ll use your left-hand column case to analyze how you have acted consistently or inconsistently with the core values and ground rules of The Facilitative Leader approach. You’ll then practice redesigning your thinking and behavior consistent with The Facilitative Leader Approach.
     
  • Self-Critique

Day 3

  • Analyzing and Changing Your Theory-in-Use
    (Continued from day 2)
     
  • Diagnosing Behavior in Groups
    You’ll learn to identify functional and dysfunctional behavior using the group effectiveness model, core values, and ground rules. You’ll also learn a simple six-step diagnosis-intervention cycle to guide your diagnosis and intervention. By watching a videotape of a group in action, you’ll begin developing your diagnostic skills.
     
  • Intervening in Groups
    You’ll learn how to intervene in a group to improve its process, including what to say, how to say it, when to say it, who to say it to, and why. You’ll practice designing interventions, and get real-time feedback from us and your co-participants.
     
  • Facilitative Leader Practice
    In small groups, you’ll spend a full day practicing all of your Facilitative Leader skills using realistic role plays, including ones you have developed. We’ll provide specific feedback after each role play and you and your co-participants will receive an audio recording of your role plays and feedback.

Day 4

  • Facilitative Leader Practice
    (Continued from day 3)
     
  • Introducing The Facilitative Leader Approach in Your Organization
    You’ll learn strategies and specific techniques to address the challenges you face when introducing The Facilitative Leader approach in your organization. We give you materials and information to support you in introducing this new approach to leadership to others.
     
  • Integrating The Facilitative Leader Approach with other Approaches
    You’ll identify how The Facilitative Leader approach reinforces, complements, or conflicts with other management approaches and training programs currently used in your organization. You’ll also consider what changes, if any, are needed to create more consistency among these management approaches and training programs.
     
  • Developing Your Skills
    Becoming a Facilitative Leader takes more than several days. Therefore, during this session we discuss ways you can continue to develop your knowledge and skills within your organization.
     
  • Workshop Evaluation

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