Author Archives: rosepadfield

Super Facilitators – they don’t wear a cape but they have super powers essential to your team’s success!

When you think of what makes a team successful, what comes to mind?  Vision, expertise, leadership? These all matter. But recent research published in Harvard Business Review highlights another, often overlooked, ingredient: the super-facilitator.

A super-facilitator is not just someone who manages meetings. They are the person who draws out the best in everyone, integrates diverse expertise, and builds trust so that collective intelligence can flourish. In a world of increasing complexity, hybrid work, and fast-moving change, this is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

This month’s article describes the role, why it is essential, and how to get started.  I hope you find it useful and interesting.  I’ve been a Team Coach and Facilitator (also minus a cape) for over 20 years, so if you’d like to discuss some more just let me know.

Rose Padfield

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Critical Thinking and why we need this more than ever

In a world characterised by complexity, ambiguity, rapid change and AI, critical thinking is no longer a desirable trait — it is a fundamental leadership capability. Leaders who think critically can interpret complexity, distinguish signal from noise, and guide teams with clarity and intentionality. Rather than repeat parrot fashion what we’re told and what we read.

When I was researching for the article on AI last month, I kept reading that critical thinking was becoming more and more essential, which makes sense.  We need to be able to critically review, as well as embrace how AI helps us.  So, I thought it would be helpful to write about it – this article blends research insight with actionable guidance to help you build or enhance your critical thinking as both a mindset and a capability.

I hope you find it interesting and helpful – do let me know what you think!

Rose Padfield

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AI – Human Collaboration: Harnessing and integrating the value of both

Does the thought of artificial intelligence excite or scare you, or does it do both? What can you do to lead the collaboration between humans and AI into the future?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how humans and machines work together. But most organisations still focus on the technical aspect of AI implementation. Companies need to pay attention to the profound cultural and organisational changes the adoption of AI brings. What can you do to pioneer bringing together the value of AI and the amazing and unique gifts of your people? This newsletter gives thought to this topic. I hope this will be of interest to you – do let me know what you think.

Rose Padfield

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Learning matters – but what learning approach is best for your organisation?

I don’t know of any leaders who would disagree with the importance of learning, at both an organisational and an individual level. It is key to gaining a competitive advantage and is seen as an imperative to keep pace with technological advances and to attracting and retaining the best talent. But not all leaders have stopped to think about the best way to lead learning in their organisation and about their philosophy regarding the outcomes of this knowledge. Why does learning matter and who benefits from it? In this newsletter, we explore and expand on research conducted by Gianpiero Petriglieri, associate professor of organisational behaviour at graduate business school INSEAD. I hope this will be of interest to you – do let me know what you think.

Rose Padfield

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Philosophy – how the big questions can act as the springboard for happiness

What can the ancient philosophers teach us about happiness?

I have been reading about some of the ancient philosophers and am struck by how their teachings resonate even today, several thousand years later. The world around us can often feel like a scary place (whether that’s the actual world, our more immediate surroundings or indeed our inner world), so what can we learn from them? I have incorporated some of their ideas that I hope will be of interest to you into this month’s newsletter – do let me know what you think of them.

Rose Padfield and Cara McCarthy

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Uncharted territory

How to lead ‘extreme’ teams

In today’s world, many leaders need to address complex, multi-boundary challenges at scale. To meet this need, you’ll have to develop your leadership mindset and skills, especially your ability to lead ‘extreme’ teams into uncharted territory (as the image suggests).

Much of the content of this month’s article was inspired by the book: Extreme Teaming: Lessons in complex cross-sector leadership by Amy C Edmondson and Jean-Francois Harvey.

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People pleasing

How to stop being a people-pleaser

We all need to feel loved and accepted, however, this is exaggerated in someone who’s a people-pleaser, and they may avoid circumstances that cause them to feel conflict with others. Because they’re worried about being rejected, they generally seek approval to reassure themselves.

This isn’t the most constructive way to be, so this month’s article is about people-pleasing and how to escape it.

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The power of diversity in teams

The power of diversity in teams

When you face a challenge in your organisation, you shouldn’t always stick with the same peer group, or even the same peer group + direct reports, to address it.

It’s best to use a diverse pool of people from across the organisation, and maybe from outside the organisation. This will help challenge the prevailing understanding, mindset and beliefs, and is likely to result in increased creativity.

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Emotions

How to deal with emotionally immature people

How do you cope if your boss, colleague, client or other stakeholder is emotionally immature? These are individuals who can be successful on the outside; they are smart and capable, but they have not developed emotionally. This makes them very tricky to deal with, and even harder to build a working relationship with!

This article explores their likely traits, and ideas for how you can respond.

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Transitions

Dealing with life transitions

I have recently experienced some significant changes in my life. This made me think about transitions and how to handle them.

Any kind of transition can lead to uncomfortable feelings, and it may take time to work through them. The extent of the emotion you feel is linked to the level of loss. However, it’s not all bad, as transitions can also be opportunities for growth and reshaping of your relationships.

We can’t escape things ending and new things beginning. It’s all part of life. In this article, you’ll discover four main types of life transition described by Sharan Merriam (Professor of Adult Education, University of Georgia), and get some ideas about how to deal with them.

When you understand what type of transition you’re facing, it may help you through the process.

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