Want to “Round Out” Your Leadership Angles? Facilitative Leadership Model Can Help

As my clients can attest, I love a simple and elegant organizational model with a lot of practical applications!

One of my favorites, which I learned in a facilitation course over two decades ago, is the Facilitative Leadership model. While it’s an oldie, I find it to be a goodie, and it has been coming up a lot for me in situations where clients may be over indexing on one of the three angles below (see my elementary drawing)

The Facilitative Leadership model posits that leaders need to attend equally to 3 dimensions of success—Results, Process and Relationships—to positively steer any agenda and/or group forward.    

1.        The “Results” angle focuses on goals and getting tasks done. 

2.        The “Process” angle focuses on how the work is designed and managed.

3.        The “Relationship” angle is attuned to how people interact and how they feel about their involvement and contribution.

As you might expect, it’s not uncommon for both individuals and organizational cultures to lean a little too far on one or two of these dimensions at the expense of the longer term health of the team, culture and/or organization.  

Here Are Common “Angle” Traps as Leaders:

1.        Leaning too far into Relationships:  Those that are highly attuned to others’ feelings and want to set an inclusive environment may find themselves compromising Results and Process to ensure that everyone feels heard, respected and appreciated.  This may not only be inefficient at times, but also lead to less-than-optimal outcomes, and/or even indecision and paralysis.

2.        Leaning too far into Results: Those that are highly attuned to results and continual progress may find themselves so focused on outcomes that they knowingly (or unknowingly) give the impression that people are less important, which slowly chips away at employee morale and engagement.    This results focus may also set an unsustainable pace and/or create an environment where people don’t have enough space and time to foster community and connection with their leader and/or colleagues.

3.        Leaning too far into Process.  Finally, leaders that are hyper-focused on process may be so attached to a particular process or way of working that they lose their way on Results and Relationships.    This emphasis may also lack sensitivity to the different styles and approaches which can be utilized get to the ultimate desired end goal.

The art is maintaining balance across these dimensions on a consistent basis, which is easier said than done when juggling competing demands and priorities and busy schedules. The beauty in the model, however, is how easy it is to remember.    

Whether you are planning a team meeting, having a one-on-one, writing a communication or building an action plan, the Facilitative Leadership model is a visual rubric to check yourself against.  It’s also possible to proactively lean on others that bring complimentary lenses—whether Relationships, Results and Process, to your own angle(s) of strength on critical initiatives.

Like learning to ride a bicycle, incorporating and balancing out our and others’ angles becomes a lot more natural with practice and reflection. And indeed, the research consistently supports the need for senior leaders to round out predominant cultural “angles” in their organization to the contrary. Just listen to Adam Grant’s most recent Work Life podcast on Culture and Fit to learn more!