As my guest this week will tell you: to avoid a difficult conversation, is to choose the path of least resistance. But when leaders choose the easy way out? Nothing good ever comes from it; only rising frustrations, anxieties, and eventually, resignations.Luckily for us, Paul Falcone has had every difficult conversation in the book - and he’s written 17 of them! A three-decade career in HR, a stint as a Universal Studios tour guide grappling with grumpy guests, and now a workplace leadership consultant, Paul has learnt to master workplace friction with grace, empathy and a helping of storytelling. The secret? Facilitation, of course!Find out how to become a more vulnerable, self-aware manager, why we must reframe resistance, and the art of leading with an iron fist and a velvet glove.Find out about:How to approach confrontation with empathy, encouragement and motivationWhy mindset, skillset and self-care are vital for effective leadershipHow to handle difficult managers through considered, non-violent communicationThe importance of building your front-line leadership muscleThe ROI of raising your team’s awarenessDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Paul Falcone:LinkedIn WebsiteAmazon Author PageHarperCollins Leadership Author PageYouTube ChannelSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Michael Bungay Stanier, author of the bestseller The Coaching Habit, shares his insights from years of coaching and crisis intervention. He emphasizes the importance of staying curious longer before giving advice, a lesson shaped by his hotline experience. Listeners learn how to foster team autonomy, ask better questions starting with 'what,' and the transformative power of a coaching mindset. He highlights the need for authenticity in communication and the delicate balance of authority and collaboration in facilitation.

Words: they are abundantly, inescapably, everywhere in the world of work. Emails, documents, post-its, briefs, meetings, hushed whispers across the office. So why is it that so many organisations still find themselves on the wrong page from one another?Ask the multi-talented master of service design thinking, stand-up comedy, theatrical design and psychology-zoology, Adam StJohn Lawrence, and he will tell you that words, actually, get in the way of true collaboration and understanding.Intrigued? Spend an hour and a half with Adam’s fascinating anecdotes, knowledge and insights to learn how to be a more effective communicator and facilitator - without speaking.Find out about:How to express reality and achieve results in non-verbal waysThe effectiveness of prototypes over word-based documentsHow to reframe roleplay into a judgement-free, comfortable spaceHow to ease corporate clients into more interactive, playful sessionsThe 3 questions to ask for effective projectsDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Adam:LinkedInBooks and schools: www.tisdd.comGlobal Jams: www.globaljams.orgwww.cocreationschool.comSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Over the years, I’ve had many magnificent facilitators in the podcast chair who identify as trainers, and many talented trainers who identify as facilitators. Where does the line blur? Is there a line? Dare I ask, should there be?We settle it once and for all in this special LinkedIn Live conversation with my NDB Course Faculty! We discuss why Facilitation and Training exist on a spectrum with fluctuating frequencies of knowledge sharing, leadership, emergence and ownership - ultimately both trying to achieve change from differing angles.Join us for a purist vs freethinker exploration, as we navigate assumptions, challenge definitions, and colour in the Facilitator-Trainer spectrum.Find out about:The key differences between the role of the Facilitation and TrainingWhy it’s important to consider linguistic distinctions and nuances when defining terms such as Facilitator and TrainerWhy facilitators leverage the knowledge in the room, and trainers bridge gaps of knowledge in the roomThe role of emergence in training and how to design workshops that make space for itClient expectations: why it’s vital to educate clients on the difference between the two rolesWhere leadership exists in the spectrum of training and facilitationDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Imagine a landscape. Perhaps a snow-capped mountain top, studded with pine trees and whispers of clouds. Maybe a bird flutters past. Are there people there, or are you alone with the birds?If only daydreaming from your desk was seen as something to be revered - encouraged even, free from judgement. Well, Mike Parker is here to tell you why it should be! For when we let our minds wander from our day, it can be a potent balm for burnout, stress, and anxiety, and a cure for creative blockages.In this week’s beautiful and deeply fascinating episode, Mike introduces us to the power of deliberate daydreaming, metaphor mapping, liminal coaching and guided relaxation. I hope it carves out an hour of calming creativity for you to let your mind wander fully and freely.Find out about:The work of Mike’s Liminal Coaching, inspired by solutions-focused hypnotherapyWhat metaphor mapping is and why it can help us recognise and reframe problemsThe power of calming the parasympathetic nervous system through liminal pomodoro techniqueWhy guided relaxations offer neurodivergent people a less restrictive outlet than meditationThe serotonin-inducing power of recalling pleasurable momentsThe importance of recognising intrinsic, oppressive frameworks in impacting the burnout of minority groupsDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Mike Parker:LinkedInLiminal CoachingSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Everyone wants to feel like they belong - to places, purpose and people. But how many workplaces can say that they are truly inclusive and anti-racist places that people choose to belong?That is where Letesia Gibson comes in. As a navigator of systemic world views on issues such as race and misogyny, her work exists in the sphere of unlearning, helping organisations to rebuild themselves as places of belonging - for everyone.Letesia introduces us to a new language with which to embrace the intricacies of honest conversations, the tools to embed habits of belonging, and how we can start changing the narrative of the norm.Find out about:The work of Letesia’s behaviour change agency New Ways, and their approach to building inclusive, anti-racist workplacesHow to recognise and navigate the role of shame in organizationsHow to embed habits of belonging in organisationsThe importance of understanding our triggers, to move from shame to acceptanceHow we can design workshops that consider the many nuances of inclusivityThe importance of having a shared language and toolkit to initiate organisational changeDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Letesia Gibson:LinkedInNew WaysSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

The daily exchange of messages, ideas, beliefs, hopes and thoughts, from the mundane to the magical, is what makes the world spin round. Conversations are everywhere! But sometimes, just sometimes, we don’t know how to have the conversations that need to happen - the conversations that can change everything.That’s where Shiao-yin Kuik comes in! As a cultural change strategist, she is a master at guiding people to have more effective, empathetic communication - using the simple power of intentional and honest dialogue to navigate organisational flaws.We unravel the intricacies of vulnerable thoughts, of expressing honesty that doesn’t offend, and of mindfully sharing our truths to achieve change.Find out about:The complexities of communication and how to navigate it with care for effective dialogueThe importance of self-care in managerial rolesThe ‘Conspiracy of Stupidity’, and why avoidance of addressing problematic behaviour feeds collective ignoranceWhat relational safety is, how to build it, and why it ensures honesty is constructiveHow to have honest team communication that is respectful, supportive and openThe power of the pause: empowering every participant to pause a meeting if it’s not working for themDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Shiao-yin Kuik:LinkedInCommon GroundSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

An extraordinarily curious mind that lives within the pages of books, Theresa Destrebecq has taken the joy of book club and twisted it into a circle of deep, experiential learning: welcome to Emerge Book Circles.In her circles, books become the ultimate impartial co-facilitator. She invites readers to move from the often solitary activity of reading, into a shared space where ideas bloom, shapeshift and expand through the collective, connective wisdom of the circle - helping us to better understand ourselves, our teams and organisations.We talk about invitations into brave, vulnerable spaces, the discomfort of true learning and why as facilitators, we must step back from the trees to see the forest…Find out about:Theresa’s book circles, what they are andHow books can be a vehicle for exploring change in an objective wayWhy safe spaces are subjective; we all have different perceptions of safetyThe beauty of co-designed, evolved ideas through co-facilitation and collaborationThe importance of discomfort in learningWhy as facilitators we must detach ourselves from assumptions, choosing compassion firstDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.Connect to Theresa Destrebecq:LinkedInEmerge Book CirclesSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Dave Kline, an executive coach and co-founder of The MGMT Accelerator, shares insights from over two decades of leadership training. He delves into creating high-performing teams through effective feedback and psychological safety. Kline emphasizes the importance of shared purpose and the distinction between intentions and expectations. He discusses transforming 'problem children' into valuable contributors and highlights strategies for building trust in remote teams. Tune in for practical approaches to enhance team dynamics and foster a culture of honest communication.

Arne van Oosterom shapeshifted from the creative coal face of consultancy life, selling beautiful shiny ideas, into the problem-oriented domain of design thinking, as a creative facilitator, leadership coach, trainer, and community architect. But swapping aesthetic idea generation, for meaningful problem-solving that helps people to cultivate growth, demands a special duty of care for the most human things of all: for feelings, emotions, connections - and all that good stuff.This episode is a gorgeous exploration into the creativity of being human, of fine-tuning your feelings in leadership, embodiment, and most importantly, why all leaders must be facilitators - else risk failing to lead at all.Find out about:The importance of embodiment in leadership to foster greater emotional intelligenceAnd, why we must tune into our bodies to ensure we align with the right work and clientsThe intrinsic relationship between facilitation and leadershipThe oxygen mask of leadership: why good leaders should create space for their own feelings firstThe role that design thinking plays in facilitationWhy facilitators must be cognisant of different levels of group energy.The importance of proactive energy creation vs. waiting for clients to find youDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Arne van Oosterom:LinkedInWebsite Future Skills AcademySupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!