Facilitation is the New Coaching – Episode 4

In this episode, Beth chats with Moe Poirier of Shift Facilitation about the importance of leaders learning facilitation skills and how the fields of coaching and facilitation are a lot alike.

Beth and Moe also explore:

  • the core mindsets and skillsets of facilitators
  • how to deal with their ‘fraud voice’ as facilitators
  • how organizations can use facilitation skills to support their success

Engage with Moe Poirier, Shift Facilitation

Other Links from the Episode

Connect with Beth

Connect with the Facilitating on Purpose Podcast

Podcast cover art by Emily Johnston of Artio Design Co.
Podcast production services by Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions

Show Transcript

[Upbeat music playing]

[Show intro]
Beth
Welcome, to Facilitating on Purpose, where we explore ideas together about designing and facilitating learning. Join me to get inspired on your journey to becoming and being a great facilitator wherever you work. I’m your host, Beth Cougler Blom.

[Episode intro]
Beth
Hello, welcome. This is Episode 4. Facilitation is the New Coaching, with Moe Poirier. Moe’s company is called Shift Facilitation and he says that, together with his team, he’s on a mission to have corporate trainers and facilitators reinvent themselves as change agents and value creators for the organizations they serve. So, what’s one of the best ways that a person can be can be a change agent or value for their organization? Well, by learning and using facilitation skills, of course! In this episode, Moe and I talk about creating value for our clients with facilitation, and by helping them learn facilitation skills, especially those folks who don’t even call themselves facilitators or think about what they do as facilitation. Moe shares with us the core facilitation mindsets and skillsets that he trains people how to use. And we talk a lot about how group facilitation is like coaching, and how coaching is like group facilitation. We also touch on the importance of growing our self awareness as facilitators, recognizing things like when our own egos show up as well as those little fraud voices – as Moe calls them – that try to trip us up in our work, and what do we do about those things. So I invite you to dive in with Moe and I as we explore how people in any field can benefit from developing facilitation skills. Enjoy the show.

Beth Cougler Blom
Well Moe, I’m so happy to be chatting with you today. And thank you for being here. It’s great to see you.

Moe Poirier
Yeah, thanks, Beth, I’m excited too!

Beth
I know we’re going to have some great conversations. And, you know, I think we both always love talking about facilitation, don’t we?

Moe
Yeah. All day long every day. Yeah, totally.

Beth
We’ll see where this goes. And yeah, I’m really looking forward to some of your insights. You know, one of the things that comes across loud and clear for me about the work that you do is that, you know, you’re not only a facilitator yourself, but you teach people how to facilitate and work with a wide number of, of clients and organizations. So one of the things I saw on your website was that you’re a value creator. You had a lot of actually great words about, you know, what you do, but that stood out to me, being a value creator. So tell me a little bit about what you do and how you’re creating value for people.

Moe
I love the title and I think it fits exactly right with facilitating on purpose. So it’s really being clear about the work that we do, and the possibilities that are open to us. Aren’t we the luckiest people in the world, like the work that we get to do to help others be their best and support people that way? So yeah, this whole idea of being a value creator means as a facilitator, I’m contributing something to help people achieve a goal or a behaviour change. If I’m in training, then every time I’m in a training room, there’s a change that I’m supporting. It’s probably aligned with a business goal, it’s probably aligned with an important skill set or toolset, or a process that folks need to be able to apply with a level of mastery. And so every time I’m working, I have this opportunity to create value for people to help them be better at what they do, or help them achieve a goal or an outcome. And so, as facilitators, we’re creating value all the time. And I wonder, I wonder if sometimes we miss that. We lose sight of it, because we’re so busy, because it’s another session, because it’s another group of people. And it’s easy just to get lost in the day to day and lose that. Really that bigger picture, what are we really here for?

Beth
I really agree. And I think, you know, one of the things I’ve probably said in the past is that we really have the ability to change the world as facilitators. You’re right, you know, we’re very busy people, especially during the pandemic, and it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day and not see that, you know, what we think are small things are tiny impacts can be multiplied to be really, really big and global.

Moe
Yeah, it happens to the best of us, right, I’ll show up for the opening of a session and my shoulders are slumped, and I’m tired. And it’s – ah – another group. And I’ll just take that five minutes, you know, before a session, just with my journal, and reminding myself, this group of people, and this opportunity, right, and, you know, right in front of me to make a difference for them. And in turn, they go out, I mean, facilitation is a pay it forward game. We help others so that they can go out into the world and be better for others, too. So there’s this ripple effect, from the work that we do. And all that for me ties back to, why do I do this? What’s my purpose? Why am I doing what I’m doing? And what difference in the world am I creating? So it’s all connected together, Beth.

Beth
It is, I love that you really drew it back to, you know, your purpose. You know, it’s not just about you, helping the groups, is it, and their, you know, their goals and what they’re trying to achieve, but it’s maybe some deep seeded thing within you that you’re trying to serve as well. And how do you have both? And maybe it’s a both and sort of situation?

Moe
Yeah, it’s a positive reinforcing cycle. Absolutely.

Beth
One of the things I know you talk about is mindset. And so you just said, you know, when you’re about to start a facilitation, that you journal a little bit or you maybe get into start getting into some of these mindsets that you have as a facilitator. And I know I’ve been thinking more about breathing techniques as I kind of get myself settled to start to facilitate and just that sort of somatic side and, and yeah, settling in and getting ready. What do you want to say about mindsets as you get ready to facilitate or as you actually do it?

Moe
It’s back to value creation, really being grounded and purposeful with your intentions. What gifts do I have to offer for this group? And that’s part of that mindfulness, for sure for me, so that’s a mindset. I have something of value that I’m here to share with this group of people who are assembled here today, for me to be at my best in this moment to help them receive that gift. That’s what’s going on for me in those moments before a session and getting my head in the right place, right, that mindset piece for sure.

Beth
There’s a confidence piece there too, I think because, you know, sometimes I think newer facilitators or people that haven’t done it, but they’re about to, I think they kind of question themselves and go, well, what do I have to share? You know, how can I be like him or her? And I’ll never be that. And is there a confidence piece there that you think we have to, for new facilitators, get over or start to grow into?

Moe
At Shift we like to call it swagger without ego. I’m here to serve a purpose. I’m here to share this gift with people. And there’s a confidence that comes from that, an openness, a generosity that comes from that. But you’re right, [laughs] I walk into a room of senior executives, and I’m intimidated. You’re right. There’s this confidence, this belief, I would say it’s interconnected. It’s confidence, but also belief so that I can self generate that belief, right? I can reinforce that, that I have something to share. That these people need my help today, I can help these people. So there’s a self assuredness. And I also agree with where you’re going with it. Because that comes over time. I think for new facilitators, it can be overwhelming. Can I really help these people? And then the fraud voice kicks in, right? I don’t deserve to be here. Why am I teaching this topic? Oh, my gosh, can I really help these people? That can be a downward spiral. Right? And it can undermine that sense of confidence that we have as facilitators, for sure.

Beth
Yeah, I think so too. And, you know, I said, new facilitators, but you’re right, I have it too, even though I’ve been facilitating for, I don’t even know, 20 years, maybe or something. More than 20 years. And so but but you recognize that it’s there, don’t you and go, Okay, I see my nervousness, I see that I’m, you know, kind of scared to go into this group of, you know, new people or, you know, senior leaders or whoever it is, and just note that and go, No, I still have something to share, this is going to be great. We can do this, you know, it’s like the positive self talk or something, isn’t it?

Moe
Absolutely. That’s all part of the prep, you know, we also use this universal truth in our work, or what happens in me, happens in my participants. You know, if I’m vibrating with this anxious nervous energy, that will translate to the people in the room. And so it’s that preparation that you talked about, that little bit of mindfulness focused attention to get myself ready, nice and grounded, nice and steady. And then that’s the energy that I’m sharing with the room.

Beth
Are there other mindsets that you talk about with the people that you’re teaching about facilitation?

Moe
For sure. You know, there’s a number of them. Some interesting distinctions start to show up. In our work if we’re teaching facilitators, that’s their role. And there’s a contract that underlies the role of the facilitator in some ways, right? You can be objective, you can be neutral. What’s interesting is when we start looking at facilitation in the context of, of leadership, where there’s hierarchy present. And so now that whole mindset around neutrality versus authority becomes a tension, a very significant tension. If I’m a facilitator and I’m leading a project team, I’ve been brought in from the outside, I don’t have a stake in the outcome. If I’m a leader from internal helping this project team, I have a role and a title and some authority granted to me by the organization. I can’t be 100% neutral, it’s impossible.

Beth
Absolutely. I remember taking a facilitation skills three day course, or whatever it was a bunch of years ago. And, you know, I was one of the only people who was one of those external people, you know, coming in to support the group, but a lot of people in the room were those, they work at the organization, you know, somehow they fell into a facilitation role or whatever it was, and a lot of the conversation was around how that is challenging and it’s a different thing, isn’t it? Yeah, to have that hat you sort of put on and take off.

Moe
Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

Beth
Do the people that you work with mostly call themselves facilitators or are you helping them think about okay, well I’m some other role, I have a different job title, but I’m using facilitation skills in my work. Like do they identify with the word facilitator or or facilitation skills is kind of more where they go?

Moe
Yeah, the easiest example, we can look at different contexts. The first, you know, context, the easiest one is training. So we have these folks who are thrown into facilitation because they’re the subject matter expert. So, hey, Beth, you’re an expert on Liberating Structures, would you please teach the class next week for us? [laughs] And if you have no training background, or no facilitation experience, now, suddenly, you’re this expert at the front of the room who’s sharing that expertise with others. And so without any formal training, or background in facilitation skills, you kind of figure it out as you go. And if you’re, if you’re wise, you’ve been studying other facilitators. You know now imitation is the highest form of flattery, because you’ve picked up on some tricks that you’ve seen other facilitators use. And then you find your way. It’s a school of hard knocks, so to speak, of figuring out what works and what doesn’t work. So that’s on the training side. And then we also get folks who are thrown into scenarios or situations where they’re asked to be a facilitator because they’re leading a project, because they’re the scrum master, because they’re the Lean Six Sigma black belt, and they’re leading a conversation on the manufacturing floor. And it’s a reflection board or a Gemba walk. And now you’ve got group activity, group processes, that are being led by a leader who needs facilitation skills, and is using facilitation skills without necessarily even knowing it.

Beth
Yeah, absolutely. And if you learn from watching others, you only see the active facilitation part, you don’t see the preparation at all right? Like that’s, you know, occurring to me now that oh, yeah, when we do learn from other people just kind of by osmosis, watching them, we don’t see any of the, of the detailed work that, you know, leads up to that. We hope the effective ones hopefully are doing that.

Moe
We have lots of analogies that we could play with. You know, you see a talented musician, you see a talented performer, whether it’s arts or sports, you know, pick your flavour, but this person has rehearsed over and over and over again and prepared. And years of, [laughs] you know, of experience and training to be that effortless at what they do, and make it look so easy. What a lovely play on words now because the facilitator’s job is to make things easy for others. And when you see a really talented facilitator, they make it look easy.

Beth
They do. And then you don’t really realize, maybe as a new facilitator, or someone that’s kind of learning the skills, you don’t realize how challenging a role…I guess until you get up in front of the room yourself and start doing it, as you said, and and you realize, oh, there’s a lot more to think about here than just, you know, being a kind person at the front of the room or whatever it is.

Moe
What, look, classic scenario, right? It looks easy until you try it.

Beth
So you talk about coaching. You know, we know tons of coaches, and you do coaching yourself. And we know there’s a strong link there between facilitation skills and coaching skills. But one of the things I’ve heard you say is that facilitation is the new coaching. Tell me more about that.

Moe
Yeah, here’s what we see as a trend. So when I think back to the mid 90s, when people were first starting to talk about coaching in a business context, and it was early days. Now where the world that is today is coaching is the standard, really, when we think about how a manager or leader within an organization is expected to interact with their direct reports, even with peers. So in our one to one interactions, we use inquiry based skills. We use, you know, Appreciative Inquiry, we use really deep, empathic listening, right, so to help others set goals for themselves, to help others self determine, you know, their course of action. I’m oversimplifying coaching, and you know, that’s the point, right? Help someone else figure out a problem without leaning on advice, or giving them the solution, help them figure it out themselves. Coaching in a one to one context is the gold standard for leadership. And what we’re seeing emerge is how about the group interactions? And so, we don’t think coaching is replaced by facilitation, but rather, facilitation is the evolution of coaching that takes a leader from one to one interactions, to one to group or one to many interactions. Because there’s new things happening. There’s group dynamics, there’s group process, there’s group decision making, there’s a number of things that happen in a group context. And a skillful facilitator, you’ve already talked about preparation, creates some structure to help support the group in that context.

Beth
It’s funny that you’re, you’re drawing it from, like the coaching as a one to one thing to the larger group thing. Because sometimes I think about it the opposite way that, you know, because I ended up doing more, I’m not a coach. So I ended up doing, you know, more group facilitation, obviously, but I talk about facilitation is possible at a one to one level as well. So I almost think about it the other way is like, okay, we’re group facilitators, but actually, you can use facilitation skills in one to one conversation. So we’re kind of saying the same thing. We’re just kind of looking at it differently.

Moe
Yeah, what we’re agreeing on is there’s a core skill set that a coach uses, and a facilitator uses. And so it covers, there’s such a strong overlap. Asking questions, deep listening, having a process or some structure to follow. Those things are true in both coaching and facilitation.

Beth
Absolutely. Asking questions for me, I mean, that’s probably the one thing I keep coming back to. And I know that for myself, you know, I’ve said it’s like a lifelong journey to, you know, continue to learn how to ask great questions. Is there one in there, one skill set that, you know, you’ll always be working on yourself, or you end up talking about the most with your clients?

Moe
Yeah, for sure. It’s patience, it’s letting go. My heart is breaking for the group. I’m experiencing a sense of, of pain or anxiety because I want them to be successful. And that gets in my way. So how can I be an ally or an advocate for the group without taking them in a direction that’s about me and not about them? Like whose need is it? Do they need it or do I need it? That’s a constant examination for me.

Beth
I totally agree. I think of it as ego, right, the ego of the facilitator. You know, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of the expert, right. And this is true for group process facilitation or facilitation of learning, you know, training, that it’s very easy to be on the stage. You know, there’s that whole thing. sage on the stage, but I work to check that in myself as well. But man, it is easy to fall into your own stuff, isn’t it and kind of get out of your head and serve the group, mostly.

Moe
So that’s true for you and I, Beth. Imagine a leader who’s unskilled in the art and science of facilitation managing that tension unconsciously. We’re both aware of it. [Beth: Yeah!] Most leaders on the planet don’t even know that it’s happening. So there’s something going on with their spidey senses. You know, there’s tingling in their body and they feel this tension, but then I don’t think they can name it as accurately as you and I might.

Beth
How do you help people with that? Like, how do you support people to raise their own awareness about all the things that are going on inside their body, inside their mind, you know, when they’re that facilitative person?

Moe
So the expression of facilitation as the new coaching is our program that’s called Leader as Facilitator. So take any leader on the planet, and help them develop some really core facilitation skills. You know, there’s mindset and skill set pieces, right, that we can now make conscious. So conscious awareness, of course, right is the first step. From a mindset perspective, neutrality versus authority. And you and I’ve talked about that. Process versus content, which one do I own more responsibility for? Challenging versus encouraging. When do I really push or stretch the group versus when am I supporting them and cheering for them? Asking versus telling, you and I have just talked about that. Like, where’s the boundary line between interjecting something that’s a rule or a policy or a, you know, a truth versus allowing for some flexibility and continuing with questions. And then emergence, we call it emergence versus the agenda. In a session things happen. It comes up organically. You can’t plan for it. Sometimes it’s a gift, and it unlocks something. Other times it’s a tension or a conflict. And we have to figure out a way to resolve it or park it. I’m guessing you feel the same tension but for me, it’s oh man, we’re running out of time. Oh, no, I don’t know if we’re gonna get to our objectives. Oh, but what about our agenda? And so I’m fretting about those things constantly. And that’s a tension with just allowing things in the room to unfold and going at a natural pace that the group wants to go at.

Beth
Yeah, again, it’s a, I don’t know, it’s a confidence thing or something that you have your own agenda, but then the group needs something. And you have to make the decision either by yourself as the facilitator or sometimes you have to involve the group, right?

Moe
So those are mindsets, right? Those are the key mindsets for a leader who embraces a facilitator type of role. And then we get to skill sets. That was the second part of your question. So skill sets, questioning, we’ve talked about that. Like really being able to ask, in the moment, a powerful question that unlocks something for the group, listening and paraphrasing. So that deep listening, plus being able to reflect back to the group really accurately, right, what they’re saying, what they’re sharing. Naming and confirming is the third skill. So this is now this is interesting, you know, can you name something that you’re sensing in the room, identify it for folks, and then check back with them to confirm if they’re feeling the same thing or if they’re feeling or sensing something different. Right. And so there’s this constant checking back in, right, we call that checking in sometimes, right? So those are related to, you know, in the moment, advanced level skill sets, right, that exceptional facilitators use. And then, in the process, in group process, to bring light to things, we need feedback. I’m noticing this and I’m seeing this impact, right. The facilitator offers that to the group. And then we can check it. And the last bit, which is heavily relied upon is being able to have difficult conversations in a fair, respectful, open way so that we can sort things out when it’s not working. Something’s broken, we need to talk about it so that we can get past it and keep moving forward. Now, we’ve got sort of this five mindsets and five core skill sets that really enable a leader to step into facilitation roles, and create a positive difference for others.

Beth
I think those are so powerful, and they can give people who didn’t really set out to train as a facilitator, quote, unquote, those, kind of, something to hang their hat on, so to speak, you know. It’s like, what do I do? How do I do this? And what do I need to be paying attention to. I think those are great guideposts for the person that has some other job, basically, that they think of themselves as, but they’re needing to use these skills, either one on one or with their groups, whatever it looks like.

Moe
You got it. And like these are strategic capabilities. These are must haves for leaders, you know, we talk about VUCA, we talk about you know, so complexity and volatility and uncertainty, collaboration, innovation change, like those are constants. Those are constants. You started with asking about creating value. So, when we look at the framework for this, the CEO and the executive team looking for innovation, well, the pre step to innovation is collaboration. In order to get collaboration, the activity of collaborating, you need facilitators. Or you need leaders who at least are conversant, you know, and have some foundational skills as facilitators. So now we’ve got this complete value chain. Facilitation drives collaboration, and collaboration drives innovation. This is how we solve, sit together, bring diverse groups of people together, different backgrounds, different expertise, and get them working on a problem or an opportunity. Smart people working together towards a productive outcome with a leader who has some core facilitation skills at the centre guiding the action. That’s cool.

Beth
That’s cool. I mean, yeah, then you kind of get like [laughs] shivers on your arms, right? With this kind of stuff like this is where if the pandemic taught us anything too … I was kind of cheekily saying, but I think it’s absolutely true that facilitators, or people who use facilitation skills have the power to get us through these kind of big challenges, right? Absolutely. [Moe: Yeah.] And what do you say about trust? I mean, I was just reading I’m in the middle of reading Chad Littlefield’s book about virtual facilitation, and he goes on at length wonderfully about trust. I mean, you have to have this and that’s one of the things facilitators help us do, right, to be able to collaborate to have that innovation.

Moe
True. And then let’s look at coaching and facilitation together side by side. And so, it’s true, coaches and facilitators create safe spaces for people. They create safe thinking space, they create safe emotional spaces, they create safe physical spaces. Can I interact with you and this group of people and be safe? And there’s trust inherent in that question.

Beth
You also said too about facilitators, I forget how you phrased it, but it was basically like, we’re the ones who I, you know, I think whether we work for the organization or not, can illuminate things that are going on in the room and effectively give voice to that, you know, in a constructive, maybe even positive way that there’s, there’s something I’m noticing here, you know, am I on track? You know, let’s talk about it. And you can kind of almost the elephant in the room kind of stuff, right?

Moe
Yeah, as simple as tracking participation in the room. Hey gang, we haven’t heard from half of you yet, let’s you know, let’s take a second. Get out your sticky notes. Everybody write down one important thing for you right now. And then let’s make sure that we hear from everybody. And so now we’ve got all the voices in the room, and some of the quiet ones have a safe way to contribute without feeling like they’ve been put on the spot. And that’s an artful move by a facilitator who recognizes something that’s going on in the room.

Beth
When you say, leader, or the new leaders, who are you really thinking about? I mean, can we lead…are we just talking senior leaders, Moe? [laughs] Tell me more.

Moe
Yeah, it’s really good. So let’s start with the business context first, right? Like all the key words, coaching, agile collaboration, diversity, virtual teams, Scrum, self managing teams, lean cross functional teams, autonomy, hybrid work, multidisciplinary teams, Kaizen, Kanban, design thinking, learning, you know, continuous improvement, right? It’s like every single executive that we talked to you says, yes, those words are, like that’s driving our strategy. And then we drill down to okay, so who are the facilitative leaders in your organization? And we can simply say that any leader who’s working in or across teams, they are now automatically in situations where they have to facilitate. And so what are some of their job titles, product managers, operations managers, project leaders, Scrum Masters, agile coaches, black belts and green belts, working on Six Sigma projects, plant managers, production managers. Well, like we haven’t even gotten to the obvious ones. Innovation leaders, right? One of our clients, this is awesome. So Farm Credit Canada, their IT folks are not called IT.

Beth
Okay, what are they called?

Moe
They’re called productivity and collaboration specialists.

Beth
Oh, I like that. Nice. It’s long, but I like that. [laughs]

Moe
Right. And so what do they do? Well, they facilitate. They facilitate the use of technology to serve a business purpose, to serve a business outcome. How lovely, right? Canada Life has a Centre for Facilitation Excellence in house. They are propagating facilitation expertise within the organization, because it’s that important to their business.

Beth
And at all levels, I’m sure, right. It’s no job is untouched, basically, by these possibilities, right?

Moe
Yeah, right. Ontario Power Generation, their whole leadership culture is defined as facilitative leadership. They’re actively on a path to move every single leader from, you know, shop floor supervisors, all the way to their senior leadership teams, to embrace a facilitative style in the way that they lead in their organization. It’s amazing. I’m, we’re totally inspired by the work that our clients are doing. Because we see them leading it right there. They’re leading this.

Beth
There’s a hopefulness there for me too right, that, you know, these big organizations, and I’m sure you work with small organizations, too, right, and, and other sectors we have, you know, we won’t even get into talking about nonprofit and health care and all those great folks. But you know, no matter who you are, when we think about, you know, organizations using facilitation skills at all levels, I mean, it it’s kind of a good chills down your spine sort of thing, isn’t it? And there’s a great hopefulness there.

Moe
Yeah. I mean, there’s a grand vision for us, right? What if every leader on the planet had some core facilitation skills and some confidence to go into group situations and know that they could add value know that they could help this group of people achieve an outcome? That’s totally inspiring.

Beth
That’s the vision statement, right for all of us. Yeah. What about you, Moe, if I can draw us you know, a little bit to the close, but I want to hear about you, where you’re taking your own personal facilitation skills. Are there things that you’re doing right now where you’re intentionally on your learning edge? How do you keep growing and evolving your own skills?

Moe
Well Beth, you joined us for the Facilitation Lab and we are stretching in all dimensions of our practice. So, we learned from Chase right, presence in the room, talked about the neutral mask and how we use our bodies. The activity where we threw the fishing nets, which you were awesome at by the way. [both laugh] Yeah, like how we use our bodies as facilitators and what signals are we sending without even realizing? That’s one way that we’re continuing to stretch. For me definitely, it’s improv. I’m an engineer and I like structure and I like knowing that we’ve got a set of, you know, steps to follow. And I’ve become pretty attached to that. It gives me a sense of stability, it gives me a sense of security and safety in the room and what I’m learning from others is to let go. [laughs] So inspired by improv, of course we use improv techniques all the time – yes, and – and building off of each other’s ideas. But to facilitate without a script, to be unrehearsed, have a sketch, you know, have an outline but not necessarily having everything scripted, you know, down to the minute or down to the second.

Beth
Yeah, when I hear people say oh I’ve got to go practice my script and I think well of course there is the plan but is it down to the phrasing of each sentence? Ugh. Not for me, and it sounds like not for you either. You mentioned Liberating Structures, it’s the liberation within the structure, it’s that balancing act of being able to be flexible within.

Moe
Yeah, there’s a sense of freedom that comes with that. And there’s some lovely wisdom with that too. Rebecca Southens is an inspiration. I really appreciate the work that she has done and some of her writings. The line from Rebecca that I remember is “off script, but not off track”.

Beth
Yeah, that’s nice. Yeah.

Moe
So there’s some nice wisdom in that. And improv and letting go, those are lessons that I’m still learning and still figuring out.

Beth
It’s one of those always will be as well right, keep learning. Let me ask you lastly, what does it mean to you to facilitate on purpose? Is there anything that you haven’t said that’s coming forward?

Moe
I’ve been really lucky. It’s an honour to have had opportunities and a privilege to be able to do some of this work where I got to discover my own core values and my core purpose. So my expression of me, right, how I express myself in the world and how I create what I’m creating in the world, the gifts that I’m sharing with the world, all those things intersect in my work. And oh my gosh, to be able to do work that’s meaningful and connected to my heart. So there’s a passion and a truth, a deep connection for me. It gives me joy. So how lovely is that, that I have the opportunity to do that? And I feel lucky. So if I connect back to my purpose, you know, who I am and what matters to me, yeah, it’s deeply meaningful and I’m searching for something here to read for you. My core purpose: devoting my time, talents, and energy to inspiring possibilities and greatness in others. That’s me! I have an opportunity to express that every time I’m in front of a group. And my core values: legacy, inspiration, relationships and connection. How lucky, right? How fortunate I am to be able to live those values through the work that I do. [laughs] Did I get too soft? No, I don’t think that’s too soft. I think it’s important to know what matters.

Beth
Absolutely, you know you’re bringing it to joy and to gratitude. If we all had that in our role, I do too, I feel the exactly same way, I feel very lucky to be able to do what I do and if we can give just a little bit of that or help others find that in themselves, with their facilitation skills, with their work in general, that’s fantastic isn’t it? Yeah, that’s a great place to be.

Moe
For sure, even in our sessions some of our tools are designed to do exactly that. The 5 personas is a tool that allows you to discover your strengths as a facilitator and it’s connected to your gifts and it’s connected to your purpose and [laughs] how you show up in the room and the difference you make for others is pretty cool right?

Beth
It is. Let’s get those links in the show notes so that everybody can find the tools and the assessments that you have to help them in this direction. I think it sounds like you’re doing great work Moe. I thank you for being here. Is there anything lastly that you’d like to say, is there anything final you’d like to say?

Moe
No! Thank you! This is really fun, free-form talking about the work that we do. Yeah, it’s really meaningful. Thank you Beth.

[Upbeat music playing]

[Episode outro]
Beth
Wow, so didn’t Moe’s joy and passion for facilitation simply just ooze out of him during our conversation? Surely he and his team are helping organizations change the world through coaching them to develop facilitation skills. When we share what we know about facilitation with others, we can help leaders be even more effective in today’s world. I love how Moe mentioned that leaders can learn and use facilitation skills as strategic capabilities for their organizations. So powerful. On the next episode, I talk with Tara Jaskowiak of Groundwork. Tara is an entrepreneur that helps other entrepreneurs grow their brand and their business with intention. Join Tara and I as we go behind the scenes of a facilitators work, and we talk about all those things that we sometimes forget to do, like planning, reflecting on our work, developing our communication skills, and more.

[Show outro]
Beth
Thank you for listening to Facilitating on Purpose. If you were inspired by something in this episode, please share it with a friend or a colleague to help them expand their facilitation practice too. To find the show notes, give me feedback, or submit ideas for future episodes visit facilitatingonpurpose.com. Special thanks to Mary Chan at Organized Sound Productions for producing this episode. Happy facilitating!

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