We met with Certified Professional Facilitator, Gary Rush, one of the four leading facilitators at the Facilitation Academy. In our mini Q&A, Gary talked facilitation with us and…

answered these questions.

 

What has inspired you to excel in facilitation and develop your FoCuSeD course?

“I get a kick out of facilitation. I enjoy the results that are accomplished, and it’s a very rewarding career.”

 

What have previous clients of yours said about your class?

“It’s changed their lives. We’ve given people lots and lots of ‘how-tos,’ ideas, and guidance that make it easier for them to do what they do. Then, they go off and make their own careers out of what they’ve learned.”

 

Why should people advance their facilitation skills?

“Frankly, I think facilitation is one of the most critical skillsets to move forward. As you can see with what’s going on in the world, it’s hard for people to get along. But, facilitators know how to do this… Also, people need to be able to get along with people in their careers, and facilitation skills are critical in doing this.”

 

What do people often miss about facilitation? What are common misconceptions or even unknowns about the benefits of being an advanced facilitator or practicer/advocate of facilitation principles?

“I think that the word ‘facilitator’ is so general, that people are confused with what it is. Facilitator can mean anything from a teacher to a ‘hit man’ (a hit man from Chicago). For example, in the movie, Eraser, with James Caan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Caan’s character refers to himself as ‘just the facilitator.'”

 

Can you tell us some three highlights about your FoCuSeD course that you’ll be delivering at the Facilitation Academy?

“We’ll go over:

1)    The way to tie the exercises into the process so that it’s seamlessly integrated

2)    Skills to create or modify participants’ own exercises

3)    Learning how to do the exercises on the fly

Participants will learn a whole process of how to design documents and execute exercises.”

 

What do you hope participants of the Facilitation Academy will get out of this four-day program?

“I hope they get so excited about creating exercises, that they think of new ones I haven’t even thought of yet.”

 

How will this fundraiser support the IAF and the overall facilitation community?

“The IAF provides tremendous resources – Impact awards and scholarships for facilitators. This program will promote the whole concept of facilitation and its impact.”

 

Other comments…

“I think it’s going to be an amazing experience with four different instructors. Sometimes larger conferences that are similar are harder. This is an unprecedented opportunity.”