A Fellow MD Swears by Professional Facilitation for Strategy—Should You?
Why the Smartest MDs Bring in Professional Facilitation for Business Improvement and High-Performance Teams
Most Managing Directors are independent, decisive, and highly capable. They have built their success on strong leadership, sharp thinking, and a deep understanding of their business. So when the idea of professional facilitation for a performance improvement session comes up, a few unspoken concerns often linger:
- “What does this say about me as a leader?”
- “How will my team react to an outsider stepping in?”
- “Will this disrupt the dynamic with my leadership team?”
These are completely valid questions. But the reality is that the most effective leaders—the ones who drive real momentum, don’t try to do it all themselves. They recognise that an external perspective can unlock fresh thinking, clear roadblocks, and align their team faster than they could alone.
What This Really Says About You as a Leader
Bringing in professional facilitation isn’t an admission of weakness, it’s a strategic move. It signals that a leader is:
- Focused on results, not ego – Committed to getting the best from their team, not just maintaining the status quo.
- Proactive, not reactive – Not waiting for things to break before making improvements.
- Committed to building a high-performance team – Understanding that peak performance isn’t a one-time achievement but an ongoing process.
The best leaders see facilitation as a tool to amplify their leadership, not diminish it. Facilitation is about unlocking more from their team, not questioning authority.
The Reality of Professional Facilitation for Business Improvement
Performance improvement sessions are not about bringing in an outsider to dictate solutions. In fact, the opposite is true. The most effective facilitation helps teams uncover solutions themselves, aligning leadership and driving focus. Done well, facilitation enhances team dynamics rather than disrupts them.
The Initial Perception vs. The Reality
At the start, an MD might be wary about how professional facilitation will be received. Will the team feel defensive? Will the session feel like an audit? Will this lead to unnecessary friction?
These concerns are understandable, but they rarely materialise. What actually happens is:
- Teams settle quickly – Within minutes of starting, people relax because they see that the process is about practical business improvement, not fault-finding.
- Conversations open up – Issues that have been lurking in the background suddenly become safe to discuss.
- Leaders engage more effectively – Rather than a top-down session, it becomes a collaborative problem-solving exercise focused on high-performance outcomes.
Having worked across multiple industries, particularly with private equity-backed businesses, I have learned that successful facilitation is not just about process. It is about making people comfortable, creating a dynamic that encourages honest dialogue, and ensuring that leadership remains in control while benefiting from fresh perspectives.
Data and Research Insights on Professional Facilitation
Studies have shown that companies engaging in structured facilitation sessions experience significant improvements in key business metrics:
- 25% improvement in leadership alignment and strategic execution.
- 30% faster decision-making processes compared to teams that rely solely on internal discussions.
- Significant increases in employee engagement and productivity, with facilitated teams reporting clearer roles and better collaboration.
These figures highlight the tangible business value of facilitation, making it not just a leadership exercise but a strategic advantage.
Rethinking Strategy: It’s Simpler Than You Think
For many business leaders, the word “strategy” conjures images of grand strategic plans, long-term visions, and complex frameworks. But at its core, strategy is much simpler than that.
- Strategy is simply the path from A to B.
- It’s how a business solves challenges and improves performance.
- It’s about making the right choices to get better results.
For example, if a company wants to improve sales performance, the real question is: What’s our strategy to do that? It’s not about producing a 50-page document, it’s about defining the most effective way forward.
This is where professional facilitation makes a difference. It helps leadership teams cut through complexity, focus on what matters, and align around a clear, actionable strategy that drives real progress.
Ditching Outdated Planning Models—Strategy Needs to Be Practical
Many business leaders have been conditioned to think that strategy sessions must follow rigid academic frameworks, like the SWOT analysis, which has been around for decades. But let’s be honest: if a leadership team needs a facilitator just to list its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, there are deeper issues at play.
Strategy is about action, not box-ticking exercises. Business moves too fast for abstract, theoretical models that look good in textbooks but don’t drive real decisions. A professional facilitator doesn’t waste time on outdated templates, they help teams focus on what actually matters:
- What problem are we solving?
- Where do we need to improve?
- What’s stopping us from making progress?
- What’s the most effective way forward?
The best facilitation is practical, sharp, and focused on execution. It’s about defining real priorities, making decisions, and ensuring that teams leave the room with clear actions, not just a pile of sticky notes and another set of theoretical insights that never get used.
Case Study: Aligning a Leadership Team Around a Joint Mission
A strong example of the impact of professional facilitation can be seen in this case study. A leadership team struggled with misalignment on strategic direction, causing inefficiencies and lack of progress. Through a structured facilitation approach, the session provided clarity, strengthened collaboration, and created a unified mission. The result? A leadership team that was fully engaged, clear on objectives, and committed to driving business improvement as a cohesive unit.
What Business Leaders Say About Professional Facilitation
Mike Linter, Global Head of Tax and Legal Services UK and Vice Chair – KPMG UK, shares his experience:
“My team consists of some very bright, highly intelligent individuals, but I was struggling to get them all focused upon a joint mission. I had seen some of the results which Trev was achieving in similar businesses and so approached him. He ran several team events for me over six months, focusing my team’s minds on our mission, attending regular performance reviews and strategy sessions. We had great success with this approach and resulted in a much more aligned and accountable leadership team with clear KPIs. Critically this resulted in a significant profit improvement across the participating business units. If you want to get your team focused upon a joint mission, I highly recommend you consider using Trev to support you.”
Common Pitfalls in DIY Facilitation
Many leadership teams attempt to facilitate their own performance discussions but often struggle to achieve real change. The most common pitfalls include:
- Entrenched perspectives and internal biases. Teams may avoid uncomfortable topics or reinforce existing viewpoints rather than exploring new solutions.
- Dominant voices overshadowing others. Strong personalities can steer discussions in unproductive directions, preventing balanced contributions from all team members.
- Lack of structured follow-through. Without an independent facilitator, meetings can turn into endless discussions without clear action steps or accountability.
A professional facilitator ensures objectivity, manages team dynamics, and keeps the discussion focused on actionable outcomes.
FAQs: Addressing Common Concerns About Professional Facilitation
“I’m not sure how my team will see this.”
Change can create uncertainty, but a well-structured approach ensures teams feel engaged rather than dictated to. Discussions should be facilitated in a way that respects existing dynamics while driving alignment and action. Most teams find the process refreshing and productive within the first session.
“How will my FD view this expense?”
An FD is focused on ROI. Facilitation is not just a cost, it is an investment in business improvement, efficiency, and decision-making. A structured approach delivers measurable impact, ensuring that the session pays for itself through improved clarity, execution, and even cost savings.
“We should be able to fix this ourselves.”
Even the best leadership teams benefit from an outside perspective. A structured facilitation session helps cut through internal politics, decision fatigue, and circular discussions, allowing leadership to move forward with confidence and clarity.
What Happens Next?
Most MDs who bring in professional facilitation see the immediate benefit: clearer alignment, faster decision-making, and renewed energy within the leadership team. The best part? The effect lasts. The team walks away with clarity, ownership, and the momentum to keep driving forward.
Bringing in a facilitator is about accelerating business improvement. It is about getting a leadership team on the same page, removing friction, and driving tangible results to build high-performance teams.
So, the real question is, if a fellow MD swears by professional facilitation, what might I be missing?
