What can we learn about ourselves when we silence the world outside, quieten our voices, and make peace with discomfort, in the knowledge that everything in life is impermanent?At the end of October, I stepped into my fifth silent Vipassana retreat to ask myself that question once more. I left my voice, my phone, my negativities, and my niggling thoughts at the door for 10 days, committing my mind and body to the ancient Indian practice of ‘seeing things as they really are’.Come with me for a...

Burning Man is the ultimate expression of radical, creative trust. As 80,000 people from all over the world gather in the Nevada Desert, they join together on a blank canvas to co-create a utopia of art, community, culture and human spirit - leaving no trace that the event ever happened.In this sprawling temporary city of interactive installations, music, dance and expression, how do you grant creative freedom with the trust that everyone will keep the cultural essence of Burning Man alive?Ro...

Are facilitators just salespeople in disguise? We’re not on commission, we’re not driven by a desired outcome, we don’t have a product, and nor are we in a numbers game… and yet, the longer I spoke to Alan Versteeg this week, the more I realised just how much we have in common.And if you still don’t believe me, Alan is here to change your mind - after all, this is where he shines! Alan has been selling perspectives to people for many, many years, inviting them in to realise new ideas - ...

What is your inner calling? For many facilitators, it’s to build spaces of deep, life-affirming connection. After all, facilitation is more than just its methodologies and its tools; it’s about doing the soul-searching inner work to understand ourselves better, for participants and facilitators alike!For Jutta Weimar, founder of the Berlin-based Facilitation Academy, her calling was a gift. She joins me for a big, warm hearted episode brimming with self-awareness, healing and connection, as s...

There is great richness to be found in human connection - when we know how. To truly see others, to step into vulnerability and to find hidden reflections in ourselves.Maria Arpa is an absolute powerhouse of inspiration. From mediation to facilitation, she’s made it her life’s purpose to change the path of others for the better: working with people in extreme poverty, areas of knife crime, and social deprivation to overcome conflict, seek peaceful dialogue, and find connection they never knew...

How can you create the life of your dreams, where your work not only pays the bills, but brings you daily joy, creative fulfilment and purpose?Possibilitarian, artist and author Dave Gray joins me in this episode to introduce us to the art of the possible. He generously shares his life’s lessons in business and creativity; from building his $10 million agency, to becoming an accidental author of 3 books, and his creative community brainchild, the School of the Possible.A rich, expansive conve...

Have we forgotten how to play? Applied play theorist, strategist, and consultant Minna Taylor, certainly thinks so!As an actor and theatrical voice coach in a past life, Minna has made it her life’s purpose to invite creative expression, deliberate play, and the power of surrender into people’s lives. She now helps organisations to excel in the infinite game of work, showing them that play is not the pursuit of frivolity, but the spaciousness to think, to create, to adapt, and exist with ease...

A conversation is a delicate dance between two people. From one to the other, stories slowly unravel, surprises are met, ideas come to life, and life is learnt as words flow freely between us. But to make a conversation great, we must relish the silences, the questions, and the spaces in between - because it is only with curiosity and presence that we can take the conversation to places we never imagined.This week, I am in conversation with me, myself, and I for a special solo episode on the ...

Corporate training doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, it can be playful, curious, a little bit magical, and dare I say it - fun. And this week I am joined by the creative magic of not one, but two brilliant guests who are here to tell you how: Simon Edwards and Ian Byrne.Hailing from the worlds of game design and facilitation, we delve deep into the wondrous realm of learning in all of its curious, human forms. Together, they share the eureka moments of their immersive experiences, the evolu...

Defiant slowness: it’s a salve, a rebellion, and a lifelong endeavour when we have been taught to live fast, 100mph lives. Because only when we turn down the speedometer, can we be present enough to think deeply, connect to ourselves, bond with others, and experience the joys of simply being.It’s why Marike and Clinton relish slowness in their facilitation practice, carving out interludes that delight in the details, welcome appreciation into the room, nurture real relationships, and create t...

As the old adage goes, failing to prepare, is preparing to fail. But how do you prepare for something as catastrophic as a natural disaster?Scott Winter helps people, teams and organisations to struggle more effectively and step into their greatness. He’s done so for communities in California to recover from the devastation of wildfires, as well as countless others, showing up with life-affirming purpose, humanity and presence as a facilitator, to re-mould stress into hardy resilience for the...

The relationships in our life are a lot like gardens: they need watering, a little pruning here and there, some de-weeding, and a whole lot of love! But what about the people we spend most of our time with?Our co-workers are often overlooked in the garden of relationships, but it’s one that requires just as much time, care and attention as any other. Enter: the biggest mischief maker, Emily Hinks!Firm in the belief that the world of work could do with more joy, she helps people to connect, co...

In the autumn of 1996 in Palo Alto, Dan Newman had a career-defining epiphany: facilitation is playing other people’s games with your own rules. It’s something that has stayed with him on his journey from consultant to facilitator, as he solves complex organisational problems by asking: how are their rules preventing them from winning?We cover a lot of ground from Dan’s storied career in this brilliant conversation, dancing from the debate of the neutral facilitator, to cultural communication...

We are all bodily beings. You do not have a body, you are your wise, sense-making, intuitive, feeling body! And yet, modernity has found itself in a disembodied state; we live in the mind and merely exist in a body.Mark Walsh, the embodiment anti-guru, is here to reconnect the mind-body divide and bring us back home. He’s trained local NGOs in conflict zones, taught meditation to soldiers, and even has a black belt in aikido, helping organisations and coaches to work with the body to rediscov...

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 ...

Every leader has it in them to be a coach, if only they could stay curious a little longer. This was something Michael Bungay Stanier learnt early on as a youth crisis telephone hotline operator: the first answer is rarely the only answer.Better known for penning the #1 bestseller The Coaching Habit, a book that has found its way into the lives of over 1 million people, Michael’s coaching work is deeply considered, with a reverence for the gloriously messy complexities of human behaviour. It’...

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.Intrigu...

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 ...

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...

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 in...

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 intent...

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 unde...

If you were to create a formula for a high-performing team, what would it look like?Dave Kline, executive coach and trainer, accomplished writer, and co-founder of The MGMT Accelerator, a program designed to level-up the next cohort of leaders, has the code. And it’s one that he’s perfected over two decades, 250 group diagnostic sessions, 1000 performance evaluations, and many, many talented leaders later.Learn from the master himself, as we dissect the composition of an effective feedback cu...

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...