From School Teacher to Facilitation Coach 💛

Jun '23 in General discussion & questions

Hey Facilitators 👋

I wanted to share my journey to Facilitation with you all. Maybe some of you have a similar journey or are thinking of changing careers but are hesitant to do so.

Let's go 🔙

Before I started working with AJ&Smart, I was working as a Primary School Teacher and I loved it BUT, I noticed a few things over time:

❌ “Busywork” made up 80%-90% of my day

❌ During staff meetings, it felt like we spent more time talking about “how” to do something, rather than doing the work itself

❌ Collaboration in every school I worked in was ineffective and broken

❌ I didn’t have a say in any of the decisions being made in the school

❌ I had no freedom to use my creativity, I had to stick to the curriculum

❌ I felt stagnant, that I wasn't being challenged enough to grow and develop new skills. I felt stuck!

While I was having these realisations and feelings around teaching, I was having lots of conversations with Jonathan (CEO of AJ&Smart, my brother) who was also experiencing similar challenges but in different industries.

And it all comes down to one simple fact: collaboration, in all shapes and forms, in all types of work, is incredibly complex.

People (in most companies/industries/organisations) don’t know how to productively collaborate in groups. No one has ever taught us how to effectively and efficiently think, share our thoughts, and listen to others’ opinions in groups. Given the lack of awareness about the topic, it's unsurprising that collaborating in groups often becomes messy and ultimately breaks down.

💡 The solution to this problem?

After years of trial and error, reading every book, doing every training, Jonathan realised that ALL groups need someone to guide them through solving problems and making decisions.

ALL groups need a Facilitator!

After seeing the power of Facilitation and how AJ&Smart was helping so many companies with their problems, I knew I needed to be part of it. I needed to be part of changing the way groups make decisions and work together.

That’s when I decided to quit Teaching and become a Facilitator!

It's been an amazing journey to step MASSIVELY outside of my comfort zone, but it's been the best decision I've made.

I'd love to hear your stories of how you found Facilitation. Leave them in the comments below 💜

P.S. The picture I shared with the kids in it.....confidentiality can be terrifying 😂

16 comments

Facilitator Club

Public group

The community for Facilitators, or those interested in becoming a Facilitator, to get together and share insights, resources, and advice!

🚨 Start here!

👮 Group rules

🇺🇸 In-Person Training (Sold Out)

5.7k