FOR CHAIRS
Next Stage Facilitation™ develops group chairs into more naturally spontaneous, confident and insightful facilitators.
Through a balanced exploration of inner and outer dynamics, with ample experimentation, advanced facilitation practice, and personalized feedback, participants learn how to go off script, guide the energy of any group, and handle more complexity with ease.
An integrative, whole-person approach to becoming more masterful
When we are learning at our best, we are developing who we are inside, which changes how we engage outside. This puts us in the optimal zone of experimentation, risk taking, and reward. Who we are, how we think, what we do, and what we care about are brought together in a seamless and satisfying experience. We are not just learning, we are becoming more self-aware, more connected to others, and more alive with purpose and possibility.
The Next Stage addresses three key dimensions that define an excellent facilitator:
CONFIDENCE & EASE
To build our confidence and feel more ease, we have to look inside. Increasing self-knowledge and uncovering our blind spots enables us to grow.
SENSING & RESPONDING
The ability to sense and respond to individuals and the group, in real time comes from a facilitator’s sensitivity, openness, and attention. When we are aware of the many small, invisible and subtle sources of information in the room, we can adapt and respond in the moment.
FACILITATOR MOVES
Having a rich repertoire of tools, activities and interventions happens through exposure to facilitative mastery, through practice, and through experimentation. When we are engaged in repeated practice and feedback cycles with others, we just get better—period.
Your participation in Next Stage Facilitation will:
- Bring you more confidence and ease in front of the room
- Deepen your in-the-moment sensing of what a group needs
- Help you respond when you don’t know what to do
- Show you how to keep things fresh and dynamic
- Give you a space to let go of inner pressure to “get it right”
- Deepen your presence and awareness
- Offer tools and approaches for supporting challenging conversations
#1 Reason why Vistage Chairs should not miss this training:
Mark Taylor, Master Vistage Chair:
Rebecca was my retreat speaker on Agility in Leadership. As I watched her facilitate, I was in awe. I told her, “I want to learn to do that!”. I knew she had an online course, but I thought how wonderful it would be to do this with other Vistage Chairs in an exclusive training.
I chair eight NYC groups; some of my CEOs are high-energy, alpha, and in-your-face when they don’t like something or disagree. I was impressed when I witnessed how Rebecca gracefully and yet firmly handled these situations.
After 13 years of chairing, sometimes I struggle to keep things fresh and dynamic. I’ve worked on my coaching skills by completing five coaching certifications, yet I haven’t trained in-depth in facilitation and group dynamics. Chairing our group meetings is the BIG day for our members and a critical skill for our practice. I want a rich repertoire of tools, activities, and interventions. More than that, I want to become aware of my blind spots to be the best chair possible.
I love being a Vistage Chair and the difference we make in our members’ lives. I know that I can learn to become a better chair through facilitative mastery.
~ Mark Taylor, Master Vistage Chair
Best Practice Chair, 2022 Don Cope Memorial Award, Hyndman Award Recipient (2016), Robert Nourse Chair of the Year (2021), STAR Award (2015-2021)
#2 Reason why Vistage Chairs should not miss this training:
Dayna Milne, Vistage Chair:
When the word ‘never’ was a mainstay in my vocabulary, it often found itself in the same sentence as ‘speak in front of a group’.
And yet, over the course of my career, first as an executive, and then as a leadership coach, I often found myself in that position. In front of the room, I was living at the effect of the amygdala where fight, flight or freeze would kick in, heat rising in my cheeks, palms sweating, chest compressing… Over the course of the last 2 years as a Chair, that stress reaction has subsided considerably. And yet, I would still end my meetings wishing I had handled a situation differently.
The promise of learning to lead in front of the room in a very intentional way made saying ‘YES’ to Next Stage Facilitation easy, and it hasn’t disappointed.
I love being a Chair, and supporting my members in being the very best they can be as leaders. Next Stage has allowed me to get out of my own way so that I can be the very best I can be for my members on their most valuable day of the month.
I’ve had the privilege of participating in Next Stage Facilitation twice, surrounded by incredible Chairs with varying degrees of experience. And we all have this in common; we are lifelong learners, we value the importance of investing in our own personal development so we can be better for the leaders we serve, and we are willing to lean into the uncomfortable to try something new.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity! I hope to see you at Next Stage Facilitation in Denver as I continue my journey toward mastery.
~ Dayna Milne, Vistage Chair
Every Next Stage Intensive includes:
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Support for your development
Supporting you to identify what matters most to you, what the next horizon of your learning is, and what pathway and practice will get you there. -
Connection to community
A safe learning culture in a peer-group of like-minded professionals accelerates what we learn, how we learn, and where we can go next. -
Practice & Feedback
Sensitive feedback that supports and challenges with compassion is one of the most valuable gifts leaders can receive. -
Facilitative Mastery
Being in the room with a team of confident, adaptive, and insightful facilitators provides a rich and immersive container for experiential learning. In every moment, there is something we can learn.
During our time together, your learning will include:
- Clarifying intention & purpose—both yours, and the groups you work with
- Using an integral approach to facilitation
- The three primary perspectives that are always happening in any group
- Enhancing your skills for flow and connection
- Identifying and working on your personal learning edge
- Developing targeted practices that improve your presence and facilitation
- Expanding your awareness and identity in front of the room
- Using the primary polarity of sameness and difference to increase engagement and respond to difficulty
Our style of training will appeal to you if you:
- Actively participate in your own lifelong learning
- Are willing to venture into the unknown in order to grow
- Seek out diversity and input that expands your perspective
- Meet people where they are, inviting greater vision and growth
- Enjoy experiential learning and spontaneity
Finding Freedom and Flow is a game changer when you are facilitating your groups.
With more freedom and flow, your presence increases group safety, connection, engagement and authenticity; creating spaces where people in your groups can be, do, and become more together.
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We also offer custom training for member organizations and impactful Group Retreats, one to one coaching, and online courses.
