I had an interesting discussion with a fellow consultant, who asked, “so why do you facilitate”?

He went on to share that he gets invited into businesses and asked his opinion, and he has worked out over the years that these CEO’s only want one of two answers

1 – Some genuinely want to know some home truths

Or (in the majority of cases)

2 – Others just want him to tell them that they are doing everything right.

That’s the thing, as a consultant you may go into a business, evaluate where they are at and provide a killer strategy to improve their business exponentially.

But are they ready for that answer?

If your professional advice is not aligned with who they are, what they personally feel comfortable with, and how they think business should be done, they will manipulate the strategy to suit them. Even when it is to the detriment of the business.

That’s why I facilitate!

I have facilitated teams through their business and marketing strategies for 19 years!

I don’t want to waste time providing strategies that won’t get adopted. I would rather ask the questions and together with the businesses team, tailor a strategy to suit the business, who they are, how they do business and most importantly, what they want to do.

As a facilitator, I don’t have the answers, your team does. I come armed with the processes and questions that will help them explore new territory, and a fresh perspective to reflect back potential opportunities, anomalies and connections from the discussions.

Facilitation is great team building exercise, it’s fun, explorative, collaborative and builds consensus – so at the end of the session, you have collectively reached agreement as to a way forward and can start actioning your plan.

Facilitation also helps you shine a light on all corners of your business and uncover the hibernating ideas and talents of your team. And when you connect the brain power of everyone in your team, innovative new collaborative ideas and business pathways can emerge.

These sessions also incentivise and give your team permission to continue to collaborate and share ideas in their day to day.

Of course, this process empowers teams, so it is not for the CEO who would like to maintain complete control. But for those self-confident pioneering CEO’s and managers who are keen to explore possibilities and new ways forward, a facilitation session or series of sessions can be insightful, powerful and transformational.

So instead of asking a consultant – why not, ask your team?

X Cath

Conscious Business

Integrate your truth