Facilitating Change: How to create transformative spaces that inspire, empower & drive real change

Deep Dive: Every Team Needs a Super-Facilitator


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In this conversation, Mentor Dida and Cole Hoover break down Harvard Business Review’s “Every Team Needs a Super-Facilitator” by Jamil Zaki and connect it to what we’ve learned from dozens of world-class spaceholders on Facilitating Change. We unpack the article’s three pillars - attunement, communication, and distribution—and translate them into practical moves for leaders who want meetings that actually create progress. 

What you’ll learn
  • How super facilitators sense the room, name tensions, and invite quieter voices without losing momentum. Harvard Business Review

  • Ways to communicate with clarity and care, so challenge fuels learning instead of shutdown.

  • How to “keep the ball moving” so contribution is distributed and collective intelligence shows up. 

  • When to open the door wide vs. curate the room, and why design before the meeting often determines the outcome.

  • Tactics for power dynamics: naming power, creating structure, and using small groups to share airtime.

  • Why movement, somatic cues, and thoughtful transitions matter—onsite and on Zoom.

  • The “time paradox” of transformation: planting seeds, holding patience, still delivering value now.

    Who this episode is for

    Leaders, facilitators, learning designers, team coaches, and anyone responsible for turning a group’s time together into real change.

    Links
    • Harvard Business Review: Every Team Needs a Super-Facilitator — Jamil Zaki. Harvard Business Review

    • Zach Mercurio on The Power of Mattering. Zach Mercurio+1

    • Adam Kahane, Power and Love (book). PenguinRandomhouse.com

    • David Ehrlichman, Impact Networks (book). PenguinRandomhouse.com+1

    • Jeff Hittner, Ambitious Dads (Substack). https://ambitiousdads.substack.com/ 
    • If this episode lands, share it with a colleague who runs meetings, trainings, or retreats—then try one small shift this week: name a tension, rotate a role, or redesign one agenda to distribute contribution.

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      Facilitating Change: How to create transformative spaces that inspire, empower & drive real changeBy Changemaker Allies