What Can Leaders Learn From Facilitators?

People in leadership roles can learn a lot from people who are great at facilitating co-creation.

When you’re in a position of authority, you often balance two sets of expectations. You need to meet the expectations of those who put you in that role, usually higher-ups with the power to appoint you. But you also need to live up to the expectations of the people you’re leading, so they’ll follow your lead. One set is about delivering targeted results, and the other is about motivation. This can create a conflict between the kind of leader you need to be to deliver results and the kind of leader you need to be to motivate people. If you fail to translate targeted results into meaningful goals that inspire your team, you may resort to a controlling form of leadership that erodes trust from both sides.

Facilitators and leaders both aim to get the best out of the people they lead, but facilitators never try to control people to achieve the best outcomes.

There are five key traits that leaders can learn from facilitators to inspire desired behavior instead of trying to control it. These traits can be adopted by anyone in a leadership position, even if they don’t have a formal leadership role or title.

The leadership act

I want to believe that we’re evolving our understanding of leadership from perceiving leadership as a person to perceiving it as an act. The leadership act happens when someone enables progress with a collective of people. The act of leadership exists on its own, whether it’s performed by someone with authority or not. The character of a leader is defined by their leadership act, not by their past achievements or title. The act of leadership is always a moment and should always be carried out with full dedication. A good leadership act can’t be assumed to happen because of past successes. Therefore, no one can claim leadership with a title because it would deprive others of the opportunity to perform the leadership act when necessary.

That doesn’t mean there can’t be different roles and responsibilities. It means that we shouldn’t always see those with the most responsibility and decision power as the only ones who can claim the act of leadership. A collective doesn’t thrive when it’s controlled, nor does it thrive naturally by itself. It thrives when someone can facilitate the best out of a unique constellation of people fueled by shared purpose and shared risks.