Stop Trying to Be the Smartest Person in the Room | Facilitation Skills

Ultimize. Here's something I've seen countless times coaching leaders and executives. The person running the session feels pressure to prove they're the smartest one there. They don't say that out loud, of course, but you can see it in the behavior. They ask a question and then answer it. Answer their own question. They invite input and then refine it. They summarize, but they insert their own opinion into the summary. And what happens? The group gets quieter because people start thinking the facilitator already has the answer. I've seen this in leadership teams where you have very capable people in the room, but only 1 or 2 voices dominate. Not because the others didn't have ideas, even good ideas, but because the facilitator is unintentionally signaling, I'll take it from here. Now here's the shift. Your value as a facilitator is not what you add directly. And I realize that sounds and it feels counterintuitive, but it's true. It's what the group produces because of you. That's how you're measured. And that requires restraint. It requires you to ask a question and wait sometimes. Let multiple people speak before reacting. Avoid jumping in too early. Now let me give you something practical. In your next session, delay your input— not forever, but long enough that 3 different people have spoken, different perspectives have emerged, and the conversation has some momentum. Then, then is a good time to step into guide, because if you step in too early, you shut down that process. I've seen leaders completely transform their sessions just by doing this one thing— talking less at the beginning. When they do, something interesting happens. It's even magical sometimes. The group gets sharper, more ideas come out, and the quality of thinking improves because now it's not just one person thinking, it's the entire room.