I was reading Deloitte’s latest mining trends report when I came across this description of what today’s mining leaders need to be: “inclusive, respect diverse perspectives, embrace new technologies, and be comfortable with transformative change and navigating uncertainty.”
I literally laughed out loud. They were describing facilitative leadership to a T, without even using the word “facilitation.”
The gap between knowing and doing
Here’s what’s interesting: Most leaders I meet already know they need these qualities. The challenge isn’t awareness, it’s application. How do you actually become more inclusive in a high-pressure project meeting? How do you navigate uncertainty when stakeholders have conflicting priorities? How do you embrace new technology when your team has mixed comfort levels?
This is where I see the disconnect. Leadership development often focuses on the what (be inclusive, embrace change) but rarely addresses the how, the actual skills and practices that make these qualities possible.
Why facilitation is the missing piece
Three mining professionals are currently working with me, and each came with a similar story: “I know I need to be a different kind of leader, but I’m not sure how to get there.”
What they’re discovering is that facilitation isn’t just a nice-to-have skill you pick up on the job, it’s an art form that can be studied, practiced, and mastered. When you learn how to truly facilitate conversations, you naturally become more inclusive. When you practice navigating group dynamics, you get comfortable with uncertainty. When you understand how to harness collective intelligence, embracing diverse perspectives becomes second nature.
Facilitation is the bridge between knowing what kind of leader you want to be and actually becoming that leader.
APPLY: The practice that’s changing how they lead
Instead of trying to “be more inclusive” in general, they’re learning specific practices:
- The Perspective Round: Creating structured moments where every voice is genuinely heard before decisions are made
- The Uncertainty Navigation: Using facilitation techniques to help teams explore unknowns together rather than avoiding them
- The Integration Practice: Facilitating conversations that weave together different viewpoints into stronger solutions
The realisation that’s transforming their leadership: “When I facilitate well, I don’t have to try to be inclusive or comfortable with change, it happens naturally through the process.”
Watching these leaders discover their facilitative capacity has been one of the highlights of last month. There’s something magical about seeing someone realise they already have what they need, they just needed to practice using it.