Your secret superpower for facilitation
How to shift from a performance mindset to a curiosity mindset when working with groups.
As a facilitator, have you ever felt pressure to have all the information, relied too heavily on your presentation slides, or led like the voice of authority in the room? If so, you’re likely falling victim to a Performance Mindset.
At the beginning of my facilitation career I felt vulnerable leading sessions because I thought I should know every answer, and I took it personally if things detoured from the original plan. Now I know that these are classic characteristics of a Performance Mindset and they often stand in the way of effective leadership and team success.
It’s an easy trap to fall into, especially when we as a culture are so used to attending meetings or “workshops” where one person presents information to others without much space for collaboration, questioning, or co-creation. But this is NOT the key to activating teams and doing great work. Being able to unlock possibility requires a shift in your attitude across several dimensions so you can move away from being a performer and into the role of a curious guide, aka the Curiosity Mindset.
1. De-center yourself
A Performance Mindset assumes that the person holding the meeting or facilitating the work is on center stage with all eyes on them. This “show and tell” approach forces participants to put their energy into absorbing one person’s POV (versus joining in a conversation).
A Curiosity Mindset, on the other hand, assumes the facilitator is looking outward toward the others to uncover information. Rather than telling, you’re asking questions and fostering group exploration. The team has the answers and it’s up to you to help uncover them.
When I de-centered myself and started playing guide versus ring leader I was able to show up with more confidence and openness, and so were my participants.
2. Ask more questions than you give answers
Performance Mindsets corner people into thinking they need to have all the answers or that they’re “the boss of the meeting.” This is ineffective because when people feel uncomfortable offering up their ideas it discourages participation and creates friction between the leader and the attendees. As a result, you miss opportunities to unlock new avenues, ideas and answers.
To embrace a Curiosity Mindset means you’re always asking questions, shining a light on new directions, and hosting people in a way that allows them to be more exploratory. You get to provide the structure and environment necessary for your team to unlock possibilities.
Inherently, this also means ditching authority at the door. There’s no room for a meeting leader who positions themselves above the rest within a Curiosity Mindset.
3. Don’t use your presentation as a crutch
A Performance Mindset is overly reliant on a slide deck and inadvertently ends up distributing information (here’s that “telling” bit again). If you’ve packed the session from start to finish with dense slides, you aren’t really running a workshop; you’re leading a Ted Talk.
Adopting a Curiosity Mindset means your goal is to shed light on the best path forward. Of course you’ll still show up with tools to guide the group, but they’ll be interactive exercises, small-group breakouts, reference ideas and prompts to aid the work (I love using Miro and Mural to design my workshops). It’s not about telling the group what to do — it’s about giving them access to the right tools and information to steer their exploration process.
Shifting from a Performance Mindset to a Curiosity Mindset leads you and your team on a path toward discovery. It results in more collaborative and unbiased work, takes you out of the hot seat, and establishes the kind of environment that makes people feel more comfortable and open. And when all of those dimensions align, the possibilities are endless.