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I’m excited to release today’s chat with a friend who I met through my private Show.Up community last year. We haven’t spoken in 2021 until today’s conversation and I was just amazed and proud of the progress he (and his company) has made, it’s astonishing!

Today’s guest is Paul McGregor from Business Lab. He’s based in NZ and is a Collaboration Broker (cool phrase!), helping to transform how organisations work with their community.

If you think about it, this is a stunning business value proposition because every organisation has a community - whether that's a council and its residents; A government agency and its citizens; or a business association and its members. By harnessing the power of your community, your organisation can achieve more than if you simply go it alone.

Paul is also the Host of the Beyond Consultation Podcast and in this chat, he shares how he started up a podcast 12 months ago, releasing episodes every 2 weeks, and he shares that having a podcast has created hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting work for his company - HOW GOOD!

When I think of Paul, I think of progress, in today’s episode you’ll hear his candid story about his facilitation journey, both as someone exploring it as a career, and also how he navigates the business side of the work as well.

We have similar backgrounds in how we discovered the work of a facilitator, by being in environments where strangers came together, and walked away as best of mates!

He also shares his lessons learnt from being a first time facilitator, some of his facilitation failures, and shifting the expectations (being okay with giving his group the space to share, to listen, RATHER than having that urge to get in and solve, drive a solution right then and there).

This conversation is brilliantly honest, and Im sure you’ll learn a lot from Paul’s progress as a facilitator and business partner!

About today’s guest: Paul McGregor

People describe Paul as an insightful guide through complex issues.

Paul hosts the Beyond Consultation Podcast, is the creator of the Engagement Canvas and the author of Virtually Productive - your guide to facilitating virtual meetings that create change outside the meeting room.

His career began in public policy with the Ministry of Justice before a life-changing role with Lifehack, a systems-level initiative for supporting the wellbeing of young New Zealanders. He then co-managed the Nelson branch of Literacy Aoteroa before being drawn to the variety of Business Lab’s work.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Visit Business Lab
Connect with Paul McGregor on LinkedIn
Listen to the Beyond Consultation Podcast

Every day in 2025, Leanne is podcasting on her new show, Leanne on Demand.
Tune in over here!

(Otherwise, enjoy the back catalogue of First Time Facilitator episodes).

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