LEADERSHIP

One of the key elements affecting the success of a group is the quality of its leadership. Effective leadership enables a group to adapt to change in a way that allows the group to influence its future. Traditional forms of “top-down” leadership are usually ineffective because they do not embrace change and fail to utilize all group resources to create solutions that all group members can support. Top-down leadership relies on the functional expertise and charisma of selected individuals to come up with solutions deemed “correct” based on the technical expertise of these leaders. At Deer Hill Corporate we believe that Facilitative Leadership provides a more effective alternative in today’s world because it functions well during times of change and results full group involvement.

FACILITATIVE LEADERSHIP

Facilitative leadership is much more effective in dealing with change because it utilizes the power of the group’s diversity and results in change that all group members can support. It is based on the assumptions that each member of the group has something important to contribute, that the encouragement of active participation by all members will produce better results due to collaboration and teamwork, that consensus-based decisions will be owned and supported by those who will implement them, and that an environment of mutual respect will make effective leadership sustainable.

Facilitative leaders are guides who use specific techniques to assist the group in using all its resources to move toward its goals. These techniques include establishing working agreements that emphasize positive attitudes and the constructive exchange of feedback. Facilitative leaders must understand the different cultural perspectives and work styles of group members, and assure that all of these are brought forth in group discussions. The facilitative leader is not the provider of ideas, but rather one who facilitates the bringing forth of ideas by others and the reaching of group consensus on courses of action. The leader’s role can be quite passive if the group is able to organize itself and others are able to orchestrate specific tasks.

Deer Hill Corporate Leadership programs are designed to first familiarize participants with Facilitative Leadership principles, then to provide challenges like those in the workplace that require effective leadership for the group to be successful. The group must develop ways to access the ideas of all of its members, reach consensus on which ideas to implement, evaluate the results of their implementation, make adjustments to improve results and repeat the process. This trial and error process works best when the group practices effective Facilitative Leadership. After each challenge a Deer Hill facilitator guides a debriefing in which the group identifies and evaluates the leadership that occurred during the activity. This process allows participants to understand leadership that works and develop alternatives to leadership that doesn’t work. Subsequent activities become more challenging as the expertise of the group grows. Leaders can be allowed to emerge or can be designated, based on preferences indicated by the client during the Needs Assessment process. A good Facilitative Leadership process will allow many different leaders to emerge due to the variety of situations faced during different challenges.