Leading to Change - Blog on Regenerative Leadership Practices

 Our blog page has been updated to reflect our new focus on Regenerative Leadership Practices, Processes and Skills. All of our prior blog posts may be more relevant than ever before as we bridge the gaps between people, organizations, communities and large governmental systems. 

The Role of Leadership in a World of Global Warming

Posted Friday, November 6, 2020

For those of you who subscribe to our Newsletter - Leading to Change - you will see that we have taken on a new dimension to our leadership work. We...

How to Move Teams to Higher Levels of Performance

Posted Sunday, December 1, 2019

This is a second blog and video about the Performance Continuum developed by Steve Zuieback. The focus of this work is on "How to move teams to greater levels of performance." In order to accurately intervene with a team it is important to first be able to determine where your team is on a continuum from low to high performance levels. Once you have accurately diagnosed this level, the leader can then employ specific strategies to move their teams to higher levels of performance.

How to Narrow Down the Strategic Focus in a Team

Posted Wednesday, November 27, 2019

It is easy for a team to come up with lots of strategies to address a priority issue. It is often difficult for the team to come up with the few, or one, most critical strategy. This video provides you 4 four simple techniques to narrow down the focus of your team.

Paired Weighting

Posted Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The Paired Weighting Process is one of four methods for narrowing down multiple strategies to the few or one most important strategy for a team or organization.

Simple Sequence for the Process Enneagram

Posted Monday, October 28, 2019

The Process Enneagram seems complex at first. Here is a simple way of beginning to use the Process Enneagram. Begin using the Process Enneagram as a linear sequence. 

How Leaders Can Facilitate and Participate in Their Team Conversations

Posted Wednesday, September 11, 2019

It is easy for members of a team to become confused by the behavior of their leader in terms of when they are leading and when they are facilitating a conversation. This blog and video provides 3 simple guidelines to  minimize the feeling of confusing and manipulation in group participants. 

The Performance Continuum

Posted Tuesday, September 10, 2019

The Performance Continuum provides a leader or facilitator with a quick way to diagnose a team's performance level, to determine their role based on the diagnosis, all the way down to using the right process at the right time. The whole purpose of the continuum is to allow a facilitative leader to move their team to high levels of performance.

What do you do when the leader of your team is the problem?

Posted Monday, June 27, 2016

Sometimes leaders become the source of dysfunction in their teams. This short blog is useful for team members and leaders alike.

How to work with dysfunctional team dynamics

Posted Tuesday, April 14, 2015

This blog focuses on techniques to assess group functionality and some key strategies on how a leader can move their teams to become more functional and productive.

How to Assist Your Leader to Become More Effective

Posted Friday, January 24, 2014

I want to connect you to my January 2014 Newsletter that focuses on one of the most frequently asked questions and concerns in my training programs - "How do I...

Identifying Early Adopters

Posted Monday, January 13, 2014

You want to know how to identify Early Adopters in your organization or community then click on the 5 easy steps outlined in this blog and accompanying video.

Adoption of An Idea

Posted Sunday, January 12, 2014

We owe a debt of thanks to Everett Rogers who developed the Diffusion of Innovation model. This blog and accompanying video provide an overview of the Adoption of An Idea model and how to apply it to your organization and community.

How to Get at Underlying Values and Beliefs

Posted Thursday, October 31, 2013

This blog with the accompanying video outlines the Ladder of Inference Process developed by Chris Argyris and Donald Schon.  Great process for surfacing the underlying values and beliefs behind peeoples' positions.

Aligning Leadership Through Powerful Conversations

Posted Tuesday, August 13, 2013

This blog features the work of Tim Dalamu from Dalmau Consulting on the Seven Conversations of leadership.

When should a leader make a decision and when should they go to their team for a decision?

Posted Thursday, July 18, 2013

This is one of the most frequent dilemmas faced by a leader. It calls into question the leader’s most basic philosophy, beliefs and style. Without diving into all of these...

4 Step Action Planning Process

Posted Monday, June 17, 2013

The 4 Step Action Planning Process is an excellent strategy to develop a completed action plan in about 1 hour. Great to use for small chunks of work, but disasterous for using for a big scope of work.

How to Build Team Agreements - Need Set Exercise

Posted Monday, May 20, 2013

The Need Set Exercise is a great process to idenitfy highly-held values in a team. It can be used as a starting point for developing powerful team agreements.

The Decision Matrix

Posted Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The Decision Matrix is a powerful process for narrowing down several possible strategies to the one best strategy - especially when emotions run high.

The Process Enneagram as a Conversation Process

Posted Saturday, May 4, 2013

Here is an informative blog on the use of the Process Enneagram as a conversation process. Two alternative approaches are covered along with the rational for using each.

Change and Transition

Posted Wednesday, May 1, 2013

This blog provides the leader and consultant with a powerful overivew of the William Bridges Model and Change and Transition and provides some real-life stories about the impact of organizational transition.

Totems, Taboos and Repetitive Interactions

Posted Thursday, April 25, 2013

Totems, Taboos and Repetitive Interactions is a wonderful process for taking high level principles or values and operationalizing them into a powerful set of agreements.

The Process Enneagram as a Journey Map

Posted Thursday, April 11, 2013

This video provides a great review of the meaning and sequence of the Process Enneagram used as a planning framework.

Balancing the Above and Below the Green Line - A story of actual practice

Posted Friday, March 22, 2013

This short story demonstrates how the "below the green line" is balanced with the "above the green line" in actual facilitated work.

Overemphasis on Below the Green Line - Are We Going to Eat or Talk?

Posted Tuesday, March 19, 2013

"Are we going to eat or just keep on talking?" When people first learn about the 6 Circle Model they tend to misunderstand the model and spend too much emphasis on the "below the green line." Check this video out to get a better sense of the balance between the "above and below the green line."

The Process Enneagram as a Conversation and Planning Process

Posted Monday, February 25, 2013

The Process Enneagram can be used as a diagnostic tool, a facilitation design tool, a planning framework and a powerful conversation process. This video reviews the various strategies on how to use the model as a conversation process.

When should I deal with a difficult person outside of a team meeting?

Posted Tuesday, February 19, 2013

One of the most  frequent questions I am asked in the trainings sessions has to do with, “When should you handle a difficult issue one-on-one rather than inside a team meeting”? This short video provides you with some answers to this important question.

Skills to Keep Your Team Focused and Productive

Posted Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Do you ever wonder about how to keep people focused and on task in conversations and planning meetings? Here are some useful tools and tips.  

January 2013 Overview of the 6 Circle Model - Below the Green Line

Posted Thursday, January 17, 2013

This blog and video provide a short, yet clear, overview of the 6 Circle Model of Leadership.

Five Finger Model of Facilitation - January 2013

Posted Tuesday, January 15, 2013

“What are the most important skills to be an effective facilitator?” I ticked the skills off the fingers of one hand, and this became known as the Five Finger Model. 

Theory of Practice: January 2013

Posted Monday, January 7, 2013

Powerful leaders and consultants have an explicit "Theory of Practice". This video provides some of my thoughts about this important set of principles.

The Importance of Outcomes

Posted Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Do you remember City Slickers?  Curly askes Billy Crystal if he know the most important thing to know about life. In facilitation, my answer is that you need to know your rational and experiential outcomes. To learn more, check out this blog and video. 

Below the Green Line - Theory to Practice

Posted Saturday, December 15, 2012

Below the Green Line is much, much more than a model or theory – it is a way of being as a leader in an organization. This blog post provides a quick overview of the first chapter of an emerging book about, "Below the Green Line - Theory into Practice." 

Five Key Skills for Effective Facilitation - Part 1: Knowing Your Outcomes

Posted Thursday, November 22, 2012

Knowing your outcomes - both rational and experiential is the name of the game for effective meeting design and facilitation. This blog reviews some key tips about designing outcomes.

Barriers to Effective Communication Part 1 - "It's all about me."

Posted Tuesday, November 13, 2012

This is the first in a series of articles about barriers to effective communication in relationships and in workplace teams. This blog focuses on the communication positions. First position is, "It is all about me."

How do you create a compelling professional development session?

Posted Friday, October 26, 2012

“How do you create professional development (PD) opportunities that people want to attend?” Check out this blog to learn about my tips. 

When should I chart as a facilitator?

Posted Friday, October 26, 2012

Facilitators chart way too much. Read this blog to learn about some helpful tips on when to chart and when not to chart.

How to move a group from short term focus to long term planning

Posted Thursday, September 27, 2012

Leaders and consultants are frequently frustrated about when to work on the long-term dyamics and issues as opposed to the short term urgencies. It seems they can never get out of short-term planning. Check out this blog to learn 2 big tips on how to do both.

How to Deal with People Who Dominate Group Conversations

Posted Wednesday, September 26, 2012

This has got to be the most common concern of leaders and facilitators. This blog will give you some practical tips and strategies to handle people how dominate groups and teams.