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Welcome to our blog!
We're delighted to have you here. Our posts offer stories, reflections and
practical tips to transform both your meetings and your leadership.
Join us as we explore the rewarding world of collaboration together!
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Brush Up Your Meeting Preparation
What do painting projects and meetings have in common?
Barb Bickford
Jun 21, 20235 min read
Leading with Paradox
How leaders can embrace contradiction to drive innovation
Barb Bickford
Jun 5, 20234 min read
Evaluate your meetings
You can improve unproductive meetings if you evaluate them and act on what you learn.
Barb Bickford
May 14, 20233 min read
My career started on Earth Day
My youthful decision to do something about water quality has flowed through my career as a leader.
Barb Bickford
Apr 22, 20232 min read
Loss in the woods
Trees falling during a storm reminds me that loss is part of the cycle of life.
Barb Bickford
Apr 9, 20232 min read
Appreciative Questions for Earth Day
I'm a "glass half-full" type of thinker, so I love appreciative questions. What's to appreciate about appreciative questions? Lots!...
Barb Bickford
Mar 20, 20234 min read
Humans beat chatbot, 59 to 5
How do YOU use questions in meetings?
Barb Bickford
Mar 9, 20233 min read
What's essential for an agenda?
Are meeting agendas even necessary?
Barb Bickford
Feb 26, 20233 min read
Listening skills are rooted in curiosity
Listening skills are not simply behaviors. The mindset of curiosity is an essential part of listening.
Barb Bickford
Feb 10, 20232 min read
How can leaders get just a little more rest?
Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? I usually don't. But this year, I made an exception. I resolved to get more rest. While outwardly my...
Barb Bickford
Jan 26, 20233 min read
The Why, How and What of Planning
A simple description of the strategic planning process. #leadershiptraining #strategicplanning
Barb Bickford
Jan 12, 20231 min read
Use Ecocycle Planning to leverage what isn't working
A story of how the liberating structure Ecocycle Planning helped a group shift a frustration into deeper insight.
Barb Bickford
Dec 21, 20223 min read
Long-winded report-outs got you down?
How do you deal with people who have the floor, but take more time needed for their purpose (e.g., a treasurer giving a 20 minute expense...
Barb Bickford
Dec 16, 20223 min read
You can sing "1-2-4-All"
I use Liberating Structures a lot, because they foster lively group interaction while generating effective results in less time than...
Barb Bickford
Dec 5, 20224 min read
Leading with gratitude
How leading with gratitude can improve meetings
Barb Bickford
Nov 21, 20222 min read
Feeling stuck? Ecocycle can help!
I’m a gardener. I love spring, with all its lush smells, seeds bursting with life and the anticipation of warmer days. Winter? I’d rather...
Barb Bickford
Nov 6, 20222 min read
The impact of trust
Recently I recommended to the leaders of a non-profit board that they look more closely at how trust impacts their operations. They were...
Barb Bickford
Oct 24, 20222 min read
How do you get people to think outside their boxes?
The answer: Ask Wicked Questions! A Wicked Question is a question that poses seemingly contradictory yet equally desirable ends. Here...
Barb Bickford
Oct 9, 20222 min read
What leadership qualities matter most for making collaborative decisions?
When making group decisions -- what qualities of leadership matter most? First, let’s examine the question “ What is leadership? ” Is it...
Barb Bickford
Sep 11, 20223 min read
How do you evaluate hundreds of ideas at once?
In a previous blog post , I promised to share how we gathered and evaluated ideas proposed during a public visioning process. To recap...
Barb Bickford
Aug 28, 20224 min read
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