Mana Shah - Facilitator

In my work with groups to build collective strategic focus, one of our core questions for exploration right at the beginning is " what is your core purpose as a group? " - what is your group's north star - what makes you wake up in the morning every day despite the many moments of frustration and despair? What is at the core of your work beyond the issues, the projects, the strategies?  It is a unique combination of what is our passion, what is our competitive advantage and what the world will pay for/ what it needs. It is a deeper sense of what is the heart of our work! Over the years I have found inspiration from various sources to facilitate this conversation (Jim Collins, Simon Sinek, the Genuine Contact program).  While it can be a very inspiring and uplifting conversation, it is also be very challenging. Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a very exciting dialogue around "the primary task of the non profit" hosted by Group Relations India . T...

Every year I try and take some new courses to remind me of what it feels like to be a participant and also to add fresh energy and perspective in my facilitation practice and being.  I just finished this amazing online course by a dear friend and awesome facilitator - Nikhil Mehta . It was a 3-hour self paced course on how to create and nurture Safe, Caring, Inviting Learning Spaces - SCILS !    I loved the course design - it was playful and intense at the same time! I was quite hooked to it till the end and here is an attempt to reflect on what made it so -  a) Safety - The whole anchoring of the course on "safety" was a very unique perspective for me. In my own approach, creating a "life nurturing" environment is the anchor and the lens of physical, intellectual and emotional safety widened my thinking around this. Safety as the thread was woven in through the entire course. I now have a deeper understanding of how to look at needs of the learners and consciously ...