Top Five Wonders

What do you think connects these five pictures?

They illustrated my top five blogs for 2021. If you missed any, here’s a snapshot.

1. Let them go is all about the impact we have when we hover like helicopters when we’re facilitating. Groups can’t do any of their own thinking when an anxious facilitator keeps giving them ‘solutions’ to the problems they’re exploring. If we want to see results as a leader or facilitator, we need to let go.

2. Disconnect talks about Joan’s decision not to return to her beloved Bridge games after months of lockdown because she’d rather be on her own, with her ‘beautiful books’. It’s a reminder that connection is not always welcome. Some find it easy, others are afraid and many are just tired.

3. Lead with a sticky note mindset Is a must read for any leader or emerging leader. It riffs on a fantastic article by Forbes contributor, Dana Brownlee, who said that ‘…facilitation skills are the superpower that flies under the radar.’ If you’re a leader, arm yourself with a sticky note mindset and go lead a balanced conversation.

4. Where we stand compares how a group of business leaders’ assessed their stakeholder engagement capability with how a group of octogenarians assessed their comfort with using Zoom. The comparison is enlightening!

5. Surprises that shock some surprises are welcome and others are better termed ‘shocks’. Our reaction is more about the fact that we are caught unawares, rather than the actual surprise itself.

I’m not surprised that Joan’s story features. My occasional missives about my 105-year-old mother-in-law always resonate strongly with you.

Thank you for reading my blogs this year. I love writing and illustrating them with my cartoons or photos. It’s real thrill to hear from some of you over the year, telling me how a blog post has landed at just the right time for you, resonated with you or inspired you in some way. Like Judy Clark did at the end of a zoom chat after one of my Masterclass programs.