Conversations that Matter
I offer to facilitate your group’s meetings, visioning sessions, strategic planning sessions and other collaborative processes. In a safe, structured, yet dynamic setting, I work to elicit broad, authentic participation across diverse individuals, experiences and viewpoints. As a facilitator my job is to help your group deliberate and reach its goals as smoothly and easily as possible.
In doing this work I give your group attention at the level of content (intellectual capital) and at the level of relationship (social and communal capital). Through conversations that matter, i.e., exchanges about that which is most meaningful and alive in the participants, important assets and needs at both levels are revealed for further consideration by the group. Group members get to know and understand one another better, uncover and trust their collective wisdom, make new connections carrying creative potential and develop ideas for improved collaboration and results.
Sharing circles help build a sense of connection and kinship among participants. To the sound of a bell, we take time to sit and walk in silence and to speak about our joy, pain or anything inside us that pushes to be expressed. We practice loving speech and compassionate listening, thus giving rise to mutual understanding and planting seeds for peaceful interactions in the future.
Sharing circles can be themed according to your group’s specific needs:
- Dealing with organizational change
- Dealing with loss
- Addressing conflict, divisions and fractioning
- Stress management
- Celebrating positive occasions
- and more
Sharing circles can easily be integrated into various group activities, including mediation (as peace circles), strategic planning retreats, conferences and team-building events. They are effective in supporting authentic, trusting and joyful relationships.