PROGRAMME INTRODUCTION

Introduction from Fiona MacNeill

My name is Fiona MacNeill, and I am going to be working in partnership with you on this programme. I am absolutely committed to creating space for us to have conversations, for you to challenge yourself and others, and for us to think creatively about your leadership and the impact of it. I am personally delighted to be part of this important programme and to learn with you as we work together over the next few months.

I have 30 years of experience and expertise in designing and facilitating learning and development programmes – from community artwork and street work with drug users to large-scale national leadership programmes for in excess of 3,000 people in the public and private sectors.

I am currently working with individuals as a Thinking Partner, with Third Sector organisations developing Peer Leadership, and with large-scale public sector organisations supporting leadership development at all levels. Working closely in all of those systems with people at all levels of responsibility, from CEOs to frontline workers and with teams and individuals, my philosophy is that Leadership is a way of being, a set of thinking and behaviour that is aligned to values. It is not about management, position, status or experience – we are all leaders.

In this programme, I see my role as supporting you to think better for yourself. Everything we do together, and all of the tools, are based on underpinning theory, best practice and research.

All of that will be referenced for those of you who have that learning preference. However, it is not a PhD in Leadership, but a highly pragmatic and personal look at your leadership. It is about you: how you think and feel and how your thinking enables or gets in the way of you being the leader that you can be. It is very much a Strengths-based approach, focusing on what’s possible and challenging you to think differently.

You can learn more about me on my website www.fionamacneill.com

In the spirit of learning together,

Facilitation Style

We will co-create with you an Adult-to-Adult learning and development environment, providing a space where real practical learning can take place. This learning will include challenge and support, fun and creativity, individual and group activities, and a need to be fully present and engaged.

My belief is that the first job we have as leaders is to create an environment where people can think for themselves. That is our intention and one that I hope you will replicate with your own teams as the programme develops.

The learning spaces that are shared will be held using ‘Rules of Engagement’, created by Nancy Kline. Nancy created and pioneered ‘The Thinking Environment’. Her book, More Time to Think, and the learning that I have done with Nancy has had a significant impact on my practice.

Nancy has a few simple rules of engagement that really help to facilitate great conversations and create respectful learning environments, and these are part of how we work together:

• The development is facilitated as a Thinking Environment – requiring respect, personal integrity and rigorous confidentiality
• A commitment to arrive on time and be prepared
• One voice at a time, no interrupting – when we interrupt, we interrupt thinking as well as speaking
• Listen with attention, grace and ease, suspending voices of judgement, cynicism and fear
• We are thinking equals; candidates challenge the thinking of the facilitator and each other, and vice versa – the fundamental premise being that we help each other to think better for ourselves, not that we want to be right
• We help each other to grow – we offer honest and detailed feedback about the impact of learning and behaviour

From a facilitation point of view, this way of working requires highly developed skills and behaviours; the philosophy is an antidote to the old world and an invitation into the new, where:

• Relationships are everything; we need deep, honest, and authentic relationships with all of the people we work with to engage with the emerging future
• Conversation, challenge, creativity and collaboration are the edges of all of the relationships in this learning environment
• You are as much the expert as I am: we are thinking equals
• Risk is shared in the adventure to explore the future and it is ok to be vulnerable
• Collectively, we are the work, we are the impact and we are the role models
• Listening is paramount; to self, to others and to the sense of the future

Facilitating Online Workshops

We facilitate online learning with a specific set of engagement behaviours designed to help everyone be fully present and focused on the learning. As these may be different from what you are used to, I thought it would be helpful to share them here:

• Join 5 minutes before the start time, allowing you to manage any last-minute technical glitches
• We like you to always have your camera on so that we can see you – as we would if we were physically together
• We like you to have your mic on mute unless you are speaking
• We honour the idea of Thinking Equals by asking you not to interrupt anyone when they are speaking, including using the chat box or using the virtual hand
• We will involve everyone throughout so that the introverts and extroverts will get equal thinking space
• There will be time for questions, and at that point, you can use your virtual hand
• There will be a checking-in activity where we ask each of you to ‘get your voice’ in the room
• There will be a checking-out activity where we ask each of you to offer us feedback on what the session has meant to you
• Most online workshops will include a short evaluation questionnaire

At the heart of the Thinking Space approach is the creation of time and space to think and a belief that people can think for themselves. This differs from meetings with agendas, team plans and performance conversations. It is a space and time that gets to the heart of thinking and feeling around leadership and leadership effectiveness, and discovers how this can be harnessed to deliver real transformational change.

The Thinking Space challenges the old world and creates space for ownership, engagement and personal accountability.

 

Thinking Space is typified by:

• The thinker thinking for themselves. It’s for anyone who wants to create the space to think and think differently
• The thinking partner acting as a custodian, taking care of the thinking through attention, appreciation and ease. Our only objective is to help you to think better for yourself
• The use of a specific framework for inquiry – including the Appreciative Inquiry 4D model and patterns of questions based on the work of Nancy Kline – designed from theory applied in practice