Exercises:

Listening at 3 Levels - exercise        Download
A group exercise to enable deep conversation and further develop listening skills. Used with the reading on listening below (or download here) and with this easy handout (download) from the Guide this exercise can make a significant contribution to the observational skills of leaders and facilitators. If used at a team/organisational level it can help to develop good listening and communication skills and culture.

Asking Better Questions        Download
From page 25 of the Barefoot Guide - a simple and remarkable exercise to enable a developmental approach to questioning, helping people to move away from a simplistic search for easy answers to a more thoughtful approach to working with good questions as effective guides to action.

See also THE ART OF POWERFUL QUESTIONS - by Eric E. Vogt, Juanita Brown, and David Isaacs - download

Design for a Four Temperaments Workshop       Download
A 1/2 day workshop to help people to understand and engage with the Four Temperaments as described in the Barefoot Guide

Creative Conversations exercise      Download
This exercise presents a creative way to help people to develop a deeper meaning and understanding of communication and to tackle some of the communication issues they may have between them.

Giving and receiving help or feedback exercise      Download
This exercise requires two individuals to help a third individual solve an interpersonal problem through respectively taking on the roles of consultant and observer.  The results of the exercise should be exposure to problem definition and the search for solutions as well as increased feedback.

Turning points exercise      Download
This exercise will help the individual to understand the nature of change and development by reflecting on key moments of change within their own lives. See the next exercise for taking this further.

The Chapters of My Life Exercise      Download
This exercise is a simple biographical process, offering you the opportunity to reflect on your whole life, generate a picture of its significant moments and then engage with it with a bit of distance, to begin to clarify and perhaps make sense of things and the relationships between them. Can be used in an team or organisational setting, helping to build team cohesion and a deeper understanding of development. Can be complemented by the handout of "Phases of Individual Development"

Handouts:

Listening effectively      Download
From pages 29 to 32 of the Barefoot Guide - listening (with good questioning) is a foundational skill for leaders and facilitators. This handout is well complemented by the listening exercise and reading that can be downloaded from this section and by the exercise on asking better questions.

Principles and Facilitation and Facilitative Leadership      Download
From page 26 of the Barefoot Guide - a handout to stimulate thinking about what underlies good developmental leadership and facilitation.

Phases of Individual Development       Download
From pages 34 to 37 of the Barefoot Guide - an eye opening window into the stories of our lives, where we have come from where we are and where we are headed. Can be used with the "Chapters of my life" and "Turning points" exercises

The Four Temperaments       Download
From pages 38 to 41 of the Barefoot Guide - a very enlightening and useful window into the diversity of our different temperaments which can help us to appreciate our differences and bridge them. Remember that we are much more than our temperaments and that we each have a different mix of all of them them.

Also here a Powerpoint for a Temperaments presentation       Download

Leadership Polarities Model      Download
From pages 42 to 46 of the Barefoot Guide - a powerful model of leadership enabling a deeper understanding of the creative tensions and dilemmas that live between the diverse roles of leadership.

Readings:

Listening at the Three Levels      Download
Listening, like questioning, is a foundation skill for any social development practice. This reading reveals a very useful model for listening and observing and includes some ideas on the helps and hindrances to effective listening.

Leadership - the Creative Balance      Download
This article argues for greater facilitative leadership.  It goes further to illustrate the various elements of such leadership drawing from anecdotal accounts in organisations.  The result is a grounded and practical guide for us to think about leadership in organisations

Handling Denial      Download
This article examines how denial manifests in ‘game playing’ when people communicate with each other.  This game playing leads to faulty communication and reinforces unhealthy patterns of communication.  How can this be avoided?  The article describes various approaches with concrete examples.

Journaling as reflective practice      Download
An article on journaling as a primary source of learning for the practitioner with some practical tips for honing the skill and discipline within ourselves.

The Art of Facilitation      Download
A model of facilitation practice is offered here which encompasses skills and an orientation for fairly advanced level of facilitation when working with groups and organisations

The Arrogance of Giving      Download
Giving and receiving are at the heart of human transactions within our sector and is characterised by much difficulty and frustration, despite the positive intentions to facilitate development.  The article attempts to unpack the notion of giving and alerts us to some interesting challenges in our work

Case Studies:

Rafting - A case story on leadership      Download
Page 27 from the Barefoot Guide - a striking story of the difference between strong, commanding leadership and facilitative leadership. Very useful for stimulating alternative thinking about leadership.