What’s it take to be a ‘leader as facilitator’, enabling collaboration?
Just as many leaders have learned coaching skills to liberate the best from their people and the organisation’s performance, leaders also need to learn facilitation skills to liberate learning, new answers and change. The simple act of providing a facilitated environment shapes a system that encourages engagement and collaboration.
Getting clear about what we mean by ‘change’
Let’s just spend a moment reflecting on what we mean by the terms, change, adaptation and transformation. Terms that are bandied about and used interchangeably in the popular media, however they are different facets of change. Change is a term that can apply very generally, however when I use it, I mean it in the ...
A story of courage, responsibility and trust within the exec team
Historically, executive teams are often the last to be true teams. Yet, to be a true team where collaboration is strong and mutual accountability is evident, sets the cultural tone for an organisation that supports the same values throughout. An organisation that has the capacity to be innovative and adaptable.
Why do coaching and change go hand in glove?
Change is an emergent process. It is not something that happens because people tell you to change. That’s why so many organisational change initiatives fail to deliver their intended outcomes.
Leadership in complexity
A while ago, I was invited to deliver a keynote presentation on the topic of leading in complexity at the Community Centres SA conference. Congratulations to Kylie Ferguson and her team for an engaging, interesting and all-around fabulous conference! My talk was so well-received that I wanted to share an excerpt from it with you ...
From co-operation to collaboration
A common theme with my clients at present is the desire and need to get their employees collaborating. Organisations everywhere are seeking better performance, increased levels of creativity and innovation, and a reduction in functional silos. Collaboration is a step further along from co-operation, which is what most workplaces achieve. Collaboration means people co-designing solutions together ...
Systemic organisational coaching: a tale of two paradigms
If you are concerned with leadership development and practice or change initiatives, the deeply held beliefs you hold about how the world works will influence how successful you will be. So what are your beliefs? Are you even aware of them? The modern western culture has been heavily influenced by what is known as Newtonian ...
What is systems change?
‘Systems change’ is a term that is used a lot, but often used in ways that mean lots of different things. What do we mean when we say we are going to help you change or transform the system? In an effort to answer this seemingly simple question, allow me to offer some definitions first, so ...
5 Change Myths That Need Busting
Sam and I have been writing a chapter for a book with a systems thinking perspective on organisational change, and we are tackling the notion and practice of emergent change. So, I’m thinking a lot about change and thought I would share a few ideas with you that may provoke your thinking as you endeavour ...
How can we nurture visions?
I often talk about leadership as the art of facilitating energy: and I mean your energy and that of others. A short time ago, I facilitated a conversation amongst some of the Arts community. I am not at liberty to say what the project is, but as I prepared for this high-level conversation, I was mindful ...