I came across a LinkedIn post from Lukas Liebich today. As a facilitator himself, he shared an observation about those of us who are most effective; the one thing we have in common.
We are outstanding improvisers.
Top facilitators are able to handle surprises and pivot in the moment. In fact, people may not even notice that a change to what had been planned is taking place.
Lukas suggests that most successful people share a number of traits, for example:
Mastering at least one valuable skill
Being the kings and queens of execution
Having a strong drive for excellence
Inspiring trust
But the one thing to add for outstanding facilitators is being able to improvise, and handle it with ease.
You would expect these traits in those of us who have ‘facilitator’ in our job titles.
However, I would suggest that – like being able to adopt a coaching style – the ability to facilitate is an important and valuable muscle to build for all leaders and managers.
Human beings are incredible… and have a tendency to be unpredictable! To address the ever-uncertain challenges of (working) life, organisational leaders may need to change course, adjust the objective, and the subsequent action required.
Whatever your job title, if you’re effective at enabling humans to work better together, you’re a facilitator. Welcome to the club!
Thanks to Lukas Liebich for his inspiration. You can read his original post here - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6989556015708958720/