ToP Facilitative Leadership Program

A comprehensive program for facilitation training and leadership development.

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Facilitative Leadership

All organisations and groups - large and small - face significant and often rapid changes in their operating environments. For responsiveness, agility and resilience in the face of such changes we require more effective models for relationship, dialogue, thinking, planning and collective action.

Tap into depth of thinking and breadth of ideas and knowledge

Harness individual and collective creativity and energy

Build shared understanding, purpose and commitment

Develop leadership qualities and capabilities at all levels

Facilitative leadership is the key approach to enable these kinds of transformations to take place and to have lasting impact in a wide range of settings across industry, government and community sectors.

It is an approach of first choice for effective leaders, managers and coordinators, and for educators, coaches and mentors.

ToP Facilitative Leadership Program

The Technology of Participation (ToP) is a people-centred, results-driven leadership approach with widely tested and proven process tools and methods, supported by a body of knowledge and values.

The ToP Facilitative Leadership Program enhances the understanding, capability and performance of participants, in a highly participatory, experiential and learning-centred atmosphere.

Going beyond tools and techniques, it enables practical application of essential theoretical foundations and ethical principles to underpin the effectiveness of a facilitative leader.

The Technology of Participation (ToP) is the property of the Institute of Cultural Affairs. The ICA is an international organisation concerned with the human factor in personal, community and organisational development.

Program Delivery

The program content is based on seven workshop (face-to-face) modules. The content can be structured in various combinations and durations to best meet your needs:

Group Facilitation Methods

Applying fundamental methods to a range of contexts and participants, examining underlying dynamics for deeper understanding and confidence.

Facilitation Expansion & Integration

Integrating complementary tools for adapting to a wide variety of situations, with design to create high impact facilitation events.

Strategic Thinking & Planning

Facilitating movement from initial uncertainty to clear purpose and commitment, generating practical steps, momentum and ownership.

Working with Diverse Value Systems

Appreciating and embracing very different ways of thinking, learning and communicating.

Principled Influencing & Negotiation

Bridging differences, escaping drama, transforming conflict, building cooperative relationships, and developing agreement and commitment.

Understanding & Leading Change

Catalysing, initiating or responding to change, examining styles of change leadership and methods and designing a change intervention.

Being a Facilitative Leader

Facilitating transformation of cultures, structures and practices, finding purpose and meaning as a leader of transformation and change.

Interactive delivery is by highly experienced facilitators who are active in corporate, government and not-for-profit settings, and who have demonstrated skills in adult education and learning support.

At the end of each module participants have a statement of completion, a comprehensive set of course notes and concrete proposals to apply and practice what they have learned in real-life roles and work environments. They will also have access to coaching and mentoring from experienced facilitators.

This format builds competence and confidence in continuing use and development, and deepens understanding of the vital role of facilitative approaches in leading change.

So why this Program?

BREADTH, DEPTH
AND FOCUS

  • Comprehensive >

    • It encompasses a range of levels of learning, competence and application, from facilitation skills to integrated facilitative leadership development.
    • It offers ways of doing, ways of knowing and ways of being.
    • It is suitable for ‘novice’ level up to ‘veteran’ level.

  • Supportive

    • It builds confidence in participants to be leaders through learning which is practical, participatory and experiential.
    • Participants practice in a safe supportive environment and give/receive feedback.
    • It provides templates and resources with on-going value.

  • Accredited

    • It meets industry and professional training needs to a nationally accredited standard.
    • Our leaders are skilled and experienced adult educators, and are active in facilitation across their field.

FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY TO PARTICIPANT NEEDS

  • Choice of level and pathway

    • It offers pathways from single Module attendance to postgraduate qualifications.
    • Participants can find their own level.
    • There is no requirement to choose or commit to a pathway up-front.

  • Choice of timing and place

    • It offers flexibility in start and finish times and rates of progression.
    • There is no fixed schedule or prescription.
    • Participants can adjust their engagement as development needs or life situations change.

  • Choice of location and setting

    • It is offered around Australia, New Zealand, and beyond, via public subscription events and tailored ‘in-house’ development programs.
    • Transportability across locations enables access to diverse facilitation styles to deepen learning.

REAL LIFE APPLICATION
AT EVERY LEVEL

  • Practical application

    • Each level of engagement in the program emphasises and supports real-life application of learning.
    • This develops and strengthens performance and confidence in a wide range of roles and settings.

  • Proven track record

    • Tried and tested content, theoretical foundations and ethical principles.
    • Backed by decades of international field experience and proven achievement across different cultures and sectors.

  • Global learning community

    • It continues to engage and benefit thousands of practitioners who work in many locations around the Australasia-Pacific region and beyond, in a wide range of roles and applications.
    • Local and regional networks of practitioners remain connected with global networks to share learning and enable continuous improvement in practice.

Program Structure

The program encompasses three strands of delivery:

Workshop
Learning

Individual
Assessment

Real-Life
Application

and four levels of learning:

Levels of learning

Practical
METHODS:
Skills and abilities for facilitating collaborative planning and solution finding

Grounded in
MODELS:
Conceptual frameworks for understanding & leading change in behaviours, structures and cultures

Intensified by
MINDSETS:
Stances and convictions for anchoring methods & models in personal action and authentic facilitation

Sustained by
MASTERY:
Integrating facilitative leadership into everyday roles in groups or organisations

Exploring dimensions of:

DOING
+
Knowing
+
Being

(Hands)

Doing
+
KNOWING
+
Being

(Head)

Doing
+
Knowing
+
BEING

(Heart)




BECOMING


(Whole)

Developing competence in:

Leadership as facilitating PARTICIPATION:
Utilising tools for planning and decision-making

Leadership as facilitating
EMPOWERMENT:
Developing new thinking and understanding

Leadership as facilitating TRANSFORMATION:
Reframing worldviews,
culture

Leadership as facilitating INTEGRATION:
in/for
wholeness

Applied to:

Working at the
PRACTICAL
level:
managing process and delivering products matched to objectives

Working at the
RATIONAL
level:
developing knowledge and conceptual understanding through interpretation

Working at the
PERSONAL
level:
feelings, associations, values, ethics, beliefs, spirit & motivation

Working at the
APPLICATION
level:
integrating methods, models & mindsets in real life

One program – a host of benefits and applications

The program develops a range of skills, knowledge and understandings which will be useful in group discussions and workshops, team work, community engagement, stakeholder partnerships, one-on-one interaction, and negotiation.

Whenever:

  • You need to keep a group focused and on-task.
  • You are challenged to reconcile differing points of view.
  • Interactions are dominated by one or two vocal people.
  • Your meetings fail to reach a decision or move towards action.
  • A group lacks commitment to carry out the required actions.
  • We think we are leading but no-one seems to be following.

Harness energies of all participants in a sense of common purpose

Create shared understanding among diverse participants

Achieve more robust and enduring outcomes

Develop a practice of internal reflection and action learning

Elicit creativity from
diverse styles and intelligences

Enable richer dialogue and respectful relationships

Build agreement with ownership and commitment

Strengthen confidence to lead in a facilitative way