When the best leader’s work is done, the people will say, “We did it ourselves” – Lao Tzu

I was the fourth-grader on the recess field who had somehow managed to herd a group of first graders together, sit them down on a wall, and declare myself their teacher. My dolls, my younger brother, anyone who couldn’t run away became a “student” of mine. I hoarded notebooks and boxes of crayons. I had a keychain with a dozen keys jangling atop my pile of makeshift attendance and text books. I wore a bun. The calling was clear.

But the path wasn’t. As it turns out, being “a teacher” doesn’t always mean being at the head of a classroom.  It doesn’t mean a ring full of keys to supply-closets or a pile of textbooks and attendance logs. In fact, often our most cherished teachers have nothing to do with school whatsoever, and might never even consider themselves educators.

Several years ago I walked into an administrator meeting for a school district I hadn’t worked with before. One of the first phrases out of my host’s mouth as we climbed the stairs to the meeting was, “We’re a ‘learning organization.’” And they were. They saw every interaction and plan as an opportunity to learn something new, and to grow from the experience. Not just as individuals, but as a system.

Which is hopefully why you’re reading this. Because you recognize that you are an educator, but your “students” may not be sitting at desks waiting for a grade. They may be an organization, or a team, or employees, of any age or any circumstance. Your title might be Teacher, but it might just as well be Manager, Administrator, or Mother. And while you might be out there teaching math, or reading, or social studies, you might also be out there “teaching” a myriad of other things, like work-life balance, fundraising, parenting skills, or community organizing. You might be in a hospital, or a church, or a prison. Maybe you’re in a garden with a group of volunteers, outside, and it’s raining.

The thread that binds all of us together in this work is the desire to see the people we facilitate leave our presence feeling empowered to move the needle for themselves and the group towards whatever compass point they have set for themselves.  You’re here because you want to motivate deep thinking and change. Above all, you want to lead from behind and help “followers” become leaders of their own.

We are at the precise moment when this is possible. Access to the internet has enabled the cross-pollination of ideas in ways that give voice to those historically silenced. The facilitation model I am presenting here veers sharply from the ubiquitous “nightly news” model, where one expert tells the rest of us what is going on and what to think, and shifts us to the “Twitter” model, where each of us is empowered to tell our own story and teach our own truth. We are no longer facilitating “for;” we are facilitating “with.” The hierarchy is erased. There is no teacher, only teaching.

This blog will highlight five key methods that I have found instrumental in making this transformation happen: being prepared, establishing a safe environment, transferring power to participants, using active learning strategies, and helping participants “bring it back.”  The blog will be divided into five sections by these methods, with each section detailing ways to put the method into practice.

Of course, it is an ongoing process!  You are not expected to be able to put all of the pieces together overnight. Instead, I suggest that you pick a few to start with, using the planning tools that will be provided in this blog, and set aside time to reflect after each engagement you lead, using the reflection tool to think about: Did the strategy I tried work?  Why or why not? What could I try next time? What strategy should I add next?

I applaud you for embarking on this journey. Becoming a transformational facilitator is much more difficult than simply running a meeting, workshop, or class.  It requires that you, as facilitator, also become a “learning organization” together with participants. It means giving up control and transferring power, things we struggle to do when faced with deadlines and lofty goals. It means setting aside our egos and being open to alternate outcomes. Good luck to you on your journey. I hope our paths cross!