Facilitator Development
Year 2000: The Most Powerful Vision of My Life
Almost 15 years ago, December 5, 2000, I had the most powerful vision of my life in the Chicago airport. I had an 8 hour layover due to snow storms. I was just coming back from Mexico having had a wonderful visit with my sister, and I had all kinds of ideas about how my…
Walking the Path of a Mindful Facilitator
I had an insight the other day. It was, “It doesn’t matter what you practice, just practice!” I have more to say on this but first let me give you the context for what I’m talking about. In this blog, I share three reflections/insights as they apply to process facilitation that came to me in my personal…
Mind Mapping Made Easy
During a recent conference session, all my fellow participants wanted to take photos of my mind mapping notes! I did not think I was doing anything unusual since I have been using this technique regularly to take notes, design sessions, and to think about a specific topic for almost two decades. With groups, I occasionally use…
Magical Experiences in Mumbai! Highlights of IAF Asia 2015
Scenes from our pre conference led by Lilian Wang, Yvonne Yam and me with 23 people from India, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and possibly Taiwan, and me from USA. Food was consistently amazing. Best vegetarian food I know of plus some amazing meat dishes. One night we restaurant hopped to the best Biriyani, best…
Sweat the Small Stuff
Think Like an Astronaut…Oops, Like a Facilitator (Part 2) In our second video series, learn how thinking like an astronaut can help you prepare and execute a facilitation “mission”. This video provides specific, on-the-job tips. 4. Sweat the Small Stuff – Everything Counts. In contrast to the famous book, “Don’t sweat the small stuff”, our…
Think Like An Astronaut…Oops, Like a Facilitator (Part 1)
Think like an astronaut – what are we talking about? I read a cool book of that name by Chris Hadfield who was the first Canadian man to walk in space. It seems like he has a lot of great lessons for us in general as earthlings but also for us as meeting facilitators. I…
Bringing Our Whole Selves to the Group – Reflections from Banff IAF
In my last newsletter, I was raving about the location and the people I encountered at IAF North America in Banff, Alberta, Canada. I’d like to share some of the key learning highlights for me. They range from sessions I co-facilitated related to virtual facilitation and reflective/spiritual practices to organizational culture change to looking at…
Choose the BEST EVER Professional Development Plan – For You!
Thousands of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of miles. Weeks and weeks of my time. What could possibly justify this level of investment? Why do I go to the IAF (International Association of Facilitators) conference at least once, if not twice a year? Why do I make it a good part of my professional development (PD)…
Take My Advice After 20 Years… Just Fly!
Next week is my exact 20th anniversary for starting my business. I officially started it on April 15, 1995. With this blog, I reminisce about how it is to start a business, what are the stages you go through, where I have been, where I am now, and where I would like to go. Here’s my story…
Leverage Your Tools – Turning One Method Into MANY
How many of us have a smartphone that we rarely use just as a phone? It was originally designed to be a phone but now we also use it for a GPS, an audio recorder, a camera and video recorder, alarm clock, newspaper, MP3 player, social media, email, restaurant and movie finder, TV, blogger, etc….
