A Heart for Facilitation

I'm sometimes asked what the key is to successful group facilitation. In the past, I've pointed to group process consultancy skills or creative techniques aimed at engaging with, building relationships within and drawing the best out of a group. In more recent times, I've come to believe the most fundamental thing is a finding deep intuitive empathy with the group - being tuned in as well as I can be to how people are feeling, how the world looks from their point of view, what seems to matter most to them etc. Working from a place of real empathy can build trust, open my eyes to issues and possibilities I would have missed at a more surface level and create opportunities for real and profound transformation. I'm learning too, however, how this kind of intutive empathy is challenging both in my own practise and to develop in others. There are so many distracting elements - desire to impress the group, need to get the group to a certain place within a certain time, to find techniques that are simple, effective and not so mentally, emotionally or spiritually demanding. The incarnational principle of working from a place of intuitive empathy can feel like hard work but I'm learning the richness of the benefits that can emerge is well worth the effort.