Mr.

Kenneth Em

Major: (PhD in EAL)

Subject: Advanced Educational Leadership

Facilitative Leadership style

What is a facilitative leadership style? Could this be an understated secret to successful

leadership? Facilitation is frequently perceived as a neutral function that balances opposing
viewpoints. However, we can see that the potential power of facilitative leadership is far from neutral.
How can facilitative leadership have such a significant impact? The meaning of the word, facilitate, is
illuminating in and of itself.:
 To make action or processes easier.
 To help forward or to help progress

A facilitative leadership style makes things easier and helps to get things done. How often is it said
of our leaders that they make our jobs so much easier to do? For that matter, how often is it said of
your colleagues that you help make their job easier to do?

A facilitative approach recognizes the synergy of bringing together the different strengths of
individuals. This idea is captured in the words accredited to Mother Theresa:

“You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.”

Facilitative leadership skills for team

One of the most important aspects where this leadership style is particularly important is with
teams. Whether it’s a team meeting, an away day, a conference, a team set up to solve a significant
problem, or a continuous improvement team, their effectiveness is often determined by how well
they are facilitated. The difference can make all the difference. Think about the value gained when:

 Everyone feels involved and engaged in a meeting on how to take things forward
  Ideas flow at a meeting
 You leave a meeting feeling it had purpose and direction, and it achieved something
 A clear set of actions are agreed and everyone feels motivated to make them happen.
Facilitative leadership brings people together to help them achieve more.

A facilitative leadership style involves:

 Building rapport – establishing credibility to enable people to contribute with ease.

 Communicating effectively verbally and non-verbally – Being supportive and engaged
 Active listening – demonstrating your interest by your body language
 Questioning techniques – you can use questions as a very powerful facilitation skill: you
can check understanding; ask for clarification, or for a view to be expanded. You can
also ask questions to get people thinking differently (Why do you think that might be?
What else might explain that? How might we do things differently? Etc.….)

The potential of a facilitative leadership style

Too often we don’t realize the knowledge and potential that we have within the team or
group of people that we have got together. In many cases the insight and knowledge of how to solve
a problem or identify an innovative way forward is there in the organisation. The skill to unlock that
knowledge and expertise is often found in form of facilitation.

Kenneth Em

14/03/2022