Preamble

With the discussion off the ground, the leader becomes a jet pilot. There are many separate instruments and indicators to be aware of at once, many lights that might blink, buzzers that might sound, many separate control buttons to push and levers to pull to keep things running smoothly. The leader has to be fully awake, and needs quick reflexes and the skill and confidence to make decisions without hesitation and to know which buttons to push and which tools to utilize. Something new and unexpected always comes up in a discussion, and the leader needs the equipment and the flexibility to respond.

For convenience, let's separate these individual tools, movements, methods, and patterns which we will want to utilize into three "control panels," although they are in fact closely linked to one another. Our three panels will consist of: "content flow" controls, "leadership style" controls, and "group dynamic" controls.

i. Content Flow Controls

• You motivated the participants, stirred their interest, piqued their curiosity;
• You related the theme to their experience;
• You channeled the discussion so that the material is now challenging and within grasp.

• You bring in specific information, you draw out from members specific information.
• You bring in opinions.
• You draw out opinions.
• You raise dilemmas for them to ponder and stumble over a bit.

You give your members the push and blast they need to ride on their own momentum for a while, and when that runs out you need to give them another stimulus.
This is especially true in the non-directive discussion, which is allowed to take a free course. You want members to clarify for themselves what the central points are.
The members run the group and you are the facilitator, the fan, the spark-plug.

i.A. Brainstorming

• What would happen if Bashar Assad invited the Israeli P.M. to negotiate?
• What if an eminent professor declared to your class that the Holocaust never happened?
  • Turn the facts on their heads to see if they give new, suggestive meanings.
  • Play with your theme as a group, throw out random ideas.

The idea is to develop the intuition to sense something important, lying within the openness to all ideas, so no suggestions get thrown out and they should get written up where everyone can see them.
When the period ends, see if the group can draw some order, meaning and serious possibility out of the randomness of playful ideas.

i.B. Questioning

• Urge members to have a questioning attitude toward "facts."
• Show them how facts have many interpretations.
• Raise questions that bring the point of discussion directly back to the group:
  • What does this information mean to us?
  • can we do with it?
  • anyone's attitude changed?
  • here something we are learning that can be put into action?

Refrain from answering questions yourself, but direct them back to the entire group. At various points in the discussion, ask for clarification, synthesis, or summaries that will crystallize the group's thinking up to that point.

Note: These methods need not be confined to the beginning or end of the discussion, but rather at specific points where the focus of conversation might change, or one particular point is finished with, or when the interchange simply begins to sag. They are tools of which you should be conscious and use at the moments you deem appropriate.

Listed below (see box Fig 1) are more suggestions used to help the leader keep the information flowing smoothly through the discussion, and to keep the content clear, factual, relevant and interesting. In the course of a discussion it is impossible, of course, to keep aware of all these functions. You'll probably come away from a discussion feeling that you performed some functions well and messed up others.

Try an exercise on yourself.
Go through this list, pick one or two controls that you may feel a little weak on, and make a point during your next discussion to focus, in your mind, as much as possible on just those one or two points. If you feel this will really help you, add a notes column and fill it in after the next discussion; run this system a few times.

Fig 1: Leadership Functions

Request facts, seek relevant information from members.
Make them think about what they know and express that information in as detailed and precise a way as possible.

ii. Leadership Style Controls

For better or worse, efforts to create constructive content in a discussion do not occur in a vacuum, but in the context of a group of very unique human beings, with all the potential and foibles found in any collection of such creatures. You, the leader, can to some degree control, direct and diffuse the forces ricocheting within the group.

You need all your antennae out for this, and to sense what leadership approach and style it is best for you to adopt. Here are some of the considerations:

• What is the nature of the personal relationships in the group?
• What do people feel about each other?
• What are their expectations?
• What are their preconceived notions about working with each other?

• Be an active listener, repeating information, acknowledging with body language, eye-to-eye contact, referring to participants by name.
• Reinforce with kind words and use of your facial expressions.
• Speak distinctly and clearly. If you are telling an anecdote, try to make the listeners taste each word.
• Use your body when you talk. Be lively. Make their eyes follow you a little.
• Don't dominate the discussion; it's not a lecture you're giving.
• Sometimes it will be appropriate to share something of yourself - how the theme, or a particular story or detail, makes you think of something in your own experience or feelings.
• Suggest and invite; don't demand.
• Help participants who are groping. But don't grope for them.
• Don't constantly rephrase questions in your language.
• Beware of stagnating on repetitive points.
• Cut off rambling speakers gently: "That was interesting, now let's hear others."

Fig. 2: Leadership Style

Different groups may require a different emphasis in style on your part.
Also remember that a directive discussion, by definition, requires more control by the leader. In a non-directive discussion, you will need more subtlety and self-restraint.

Fig. 2.a. Style

Fig. 2.b. Effects of Style

iii. Group Dynamic Controls

Whether task-oriented or group-oriented, your discussion will always deal, to some extent, with the personalities meeting each other in a common forum.

• Every group will have its own chemistry, as well as its own particular rubbing points.
  That is what human interaction is all about.
  • There may be an immediate click between them, and between you and them. Or there may be tension.
  • They may all seem to think and talk in slow motion, or they may pop like firecrackers.
• The subject matter may highlight certain clashes that might otherwise lie dormant.
  A discussion on the Golan or Jerusalem, for example, is bound to raise some bristles, and all the fine techniques you hoped to employ will disappear in a shouting match.
• Pressure to plan an activity, or to choose a specific course of action, may bring out sharp disagreement. However, you may also find that the very pressure and intensity draw out a rapport, respect and excitement in striving together toward a common goal.
• The above tips on leadership style can help you, but nothing can replace involvement with your subject, and a respect for and interest in each person in the group.
• You will want to create a warm, open, non-threatening climate that encourages group members to participate. Just as important are:
  • Sensitizing the group to, and pointing out within the group, aggression, competition, attention-seeking, messing around, attacking; and
  • Discussing (when necessary) the sources of conflict and negative behavior: belittling, proving, defending, avoiding.

As an exercise for yourself, towards your next meeting:
Focus in you preparation on one or two of the suggestions below (see Fig.3.) for promoting group harmony, involvement and constructive exchange.
If you want to keep track, add a notes column and write up your next few meetings to see what you have tried and liked.

Fig. 3. Group Dynamic Controls - Group Harmony