Leadership & Facilitation Resources

Facilitating Leadership

A Quick And Easy Guide To Leading with Brain, Heart & Soul

This book is the result of an experiment conducted in April 2023 with the support of ChatGPT. The experiment was based on three simple premises: 1) to write a book, 2) to document the process through at least three posts per week on LinkedIn, and 3) to ask for feedback twice during the month.

The result is a book that reveals facilitation as the missing link for leadership. On the way to that key insight, the book takes you through a journey of valuable leadership concepts, stories, and quotes to inspire and deepen your own leadership journey and enable you to lead yourself, others and entire organizations and systems. It’s like an appetizer plate of key frameworks and ideas to help leaders navigate the complex world we live in.
With your free download, you will sign up for our newsletter and get insights and updates about facilitation and our global work from UFacilitate. Enjoy!

<span data-metadata=""><span data-buffer="">About The Author

Andres Marquez-Lara is the Founder and CEO of UFacilitate, a leadership development, and facilitation training company. With more than 100 expert facilitators around the world, they help groups align toward joyful, powerful action. UFacilitate is what you get when you combine Airbnb + Deloitte + Rumi, the poet.

Andres has personally designed and facilitated hundreds of events with thousands of participants. The methodology he developed is dynamic and inclusive blending approaches from design thinking, improv theater, and systems thinking. Past clients include multiple national and international organizations that include the Inter-American Development Bank, Operation Smile, Easterseals, The Nature Conservancy, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Stanford University, and many others.

ANDRES MARQUEZ-LARA

Next-Level Meeting Prep Guide

PDF guide inspired by Facilitating Leadership: A quick and easy guide to leading with brain, heart and soul by Andres Marquez-Lara (Founder & CEO of UFacilitate)

DOWNLOAD OUR FACILITATION GUIDE

<span data-metadata=""><span data-buffer="">The 8 Points of Effective Facilitation

Learn some of the basics with UFacilitate’s The 8 Practices of Skillful Facilitation. Skillful facilitation means making work easier by creating the conditions for greater inclusion and collaboration. Facilitation defines the key skills for 21st-century leadership: communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. At UFacilitate, we help leaders build effective teams by simply shifting the ways they design and facilitate meetings.

Download our free guide to skillful facilitation here.

Podcast

In an exciting episode of the Lead. Learn. Grow. podcast, Andres discusses his groundbreaking new book, “Facilitating Leadership,” with host Robin. Released on the day of the recording, Andres shares a fresh and unique take on leadership, challenging conventional ideas.

What makes this podcast even more intriguing is the revelation that Andres co-authored the book with ChatGPT, an advanced AI. Together, they present a fusion of human creativity and artificial intelligence in the realm of leadership.

During the conversation, Andres shares insights into his unconventional writing process. Surprisingly, he completed “Facilitating Leadership” in just thirty days. Listeners get a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and triumphs of this rapid creative journey, offering valuable insights for aspiring authors and leadership enthusiasts.

Tune in to this Lead. Learn. Grow. episode for a brief, engaging exploration of Andres’ fresh perspectives on leadership, the collaboration with ChatGPT, and the fascinating process behind his rapid book creation.

Testimonials

JIM ROBINSON Executive Director, Center for Excellence in Public Leadership, The George Washington University

“It has been my pleasure to know and to work with Andres for more than 15 years. He is a gifted teacher, facilitator, and coach whose core gift is nurturing and activating the core of personal power that lies within each of us. In my work as a leader and as an educator of leaders, I have experienced so many leaders who have fallen victim to the cultural myth that “to be a leader who is sensitive to others is to be a weak leader”. Many of those leaders found themselves feeling very conflicted about what to do with their gifts of sensitivity and their ability to tune into others at both emotional and, even, somatic levels. And the more that they tried to stifle those gifts and suppress their gifts of emotional intelligence they found themselves feeling de-energized and out of touch with themselves.

I am so glad that Andres has chosen to share his journey including the self-doubts, and struggles as well as how he grew through those challenges. As a result of his life experiences and his skills of introspection and self-awareness, he has become adept at helping others to grow through realization of their inner conflicts and to summon the courage to move beyond the restrictive comfort zones imposed by our false notions of “strong leadership” and, thus, develop the kind of integrity which serves as their foundation for the kind of authentic courageous leadership which is so needed.”

ANDREW MARSHALL Former VP at the Partnership for Public Service & Co-Founder & CEO, Model Leader

"The other day I was working with a team of leaders preparing to navigate the inevitable complexity that the coming years will bring. I went to Facilitating Leadership: A quick and easy guide to leading with brain, heart & soul and found some very helpful frameworks and perspective that I used in my facilitation with this team, leading to better outcomes. Thank you!"

CATHY SALIT Author of Performance Breakthrough: A Radical Approach to Success at Work, CEO Emerita, Performance of a Lifetime

"I’m so very glad that we have come to a point in our “culture about workplace culture” where sensitivity, emotional richness and complexity, and creativity and play are acceptable subject matters in leadership courses in the university and in business environments. Marquez-Lara’ s refreshing book is in this new tradition, and shows us ways to meld the cognitive/emotive, the creative/scientific, and the pragmatic/philosophical for leaders in many different phases of their journeys. His book is an exciting addition to the leadership development conversation."

JANET NAMI MCINTYRE (SHE/HER) Director, Resilience Initiative

"Wow - what a powerful book. It is FULL of amazing and inspiring stories, tools, tips, and ideas. Truly - what a great resource. I cannot believe Andres did this using AI. I am in disbelief!"

Lebanon

Corinne Boulad

France

Camille Lemouchoux-Heffer

France

Alexandra (Alex) Gaspar Martins Teixeira

Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships

Alexandra (Alex) Gaspar Martins Teixeira (she/her) is a collective intelligence enthusiast, master facilitator and technical strategist with over 25 years of experience designing and facilitating participatory meetings and convenings for high-performing teams and organizational collaboratives including FHI 360, Ipas, MSI Reproductive Choices, the Urgent Action Fund, the World Health Organization and UNFPA among others.

Prior to consulting, Alex spent 11 years advancing access to safe abortion at Ipas where she partnered with global teams and led organization-wide initiatives as a Senior Advisor for Technical Innovation and Excellence, the Associate Director for Community
Engagement and Policy Advocacy and as the Senior Advisor for Organizational Learning. Alex has also served as the Philanthropic Partnerships Officer for the Astraea Foundation, as a Global Research & Policy Advisor for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (now OutRight Action International) and as a Program Fellow with the Global Fund for Women. She has served on the board of directors of the Safe Abortion Action Fund (UK), The Stone House (NC), the Third Wave Foundation (NY) and Resource Generation (NY).

Alex has designed and led over 70 high-stakes participatory workshops, retreats and convenings for over 2000 stakeholders across Africa, Asia and North America. She is among the most seasoned facilitators, globally, of Abortion Values Clarification for Action & Transformation (VCAT) Workshops where she has led community members, activists, health care providers, ministry officials, multilateral donors and embassies—all with wide ranging positions on abortion—through a process that shifts their orientation from one of contentious debate to an opportunity for empathy and principled collaboration to advance bodily autonomy. She has trained and mentored over 150 emerging facilitators

and team leaders globally on designing and facilitating inclusive, liberatory and participatory meetings.

With two decades of experience advancing equity and justice through philanthropy and global health programming, Alex approaches facilitation as a strategic opportunity to practice high-impact, equity-based collaboration skills that live on beyond our convenings. Alex brings skillful attention to transforming personal, interpersonal and systemic barriers to meaningful participation. She is passionate about helping groups connect, navigate principled disagreement, prioritize, focus, and align towards powerful actions that advance justice, joy and wellbeing in the world.

Alex is a recipient of the Wildacres Leadership Initiative William C. Friday Fellowship (2014-2016), holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and French Literature from Connecticut College and a master’s degree in International Affairs with a focus on gender, sexuality and international human rights from Columbia University. As the first member of her family to attend university, she is humbled to stand on the shoulders of self-taught entrepreneurs, savvy dissidents, survivors of Portuguese dictatorship and lovers of learning. She currently lives in Durham, North Carolina, in the Southeastern United States, in a beloved cross-class, multi-racial intentional community of gorgeously imperfect humans trying to build deep interdependence.

Hi There! Subscribe now and get a free download of the PDF “The 8 Points of Effective Facilitation”.

Hi There! Subscribe now and get a free download of the PDF “Next-Level Meeting Prep Guide by UFacilitate”.

Venezuela

Nathalia Pérez Serrano

Amanda Beatriz Sánchez Cadenas

Pakistan

Muneeb ur Rehman

Netherlands

Liesbeth (Liz) Kieboom

Italy

Uri Noy Meir

Community Building

Canada

Zoë David-Delves

Natalie Moore

Spain

Mira Bangel

South Africa

Colin Skelton

Sylvia Wambui

Lesley Donna Williams

NELLIE CABANE

Barbados

Julie Turney

Shane Howell

Brazil

Sarah Forrester-Wilson

Systems change

Stephan Dohrn

Caribbean

Nathalia Pérez Serrano

Colombia

HECTOR ARISTIZÁBAL

Anamaria Aristizabal

Carlos Gaviria

Cote D’Ivoire

Astou Dia

Strategy, Culture change, Teambuilding

Nabou Fall

Angela Eni

Germany

Pragya Mishra

Teambuilding

Jessica Brockmann

Jordan Namerow

Ghana

Nana Yaa Boakyewaa Amoah

India

Anuj Kothari

Innovation, Product or Service design, Teambuilding

Sumangal Haldar

Teambuilding

SUHANI JAIN

Kenya

Mary Njenga Murimi

Culture change, Teambuilding, Change management

Pamela Yoga – Yieke

Culture change, Teambuilding, Change management

Uduak Amimo

Culture change, Teambuilding, Change management

Lara Konditi-Rabala

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION, CHANGE MANAGEMENT, CULTURE CHANGE TEAMBUILDING

Ciku Kimeria

Mexico

Annabel Membrillo

Strategy, Systems change, Change management

Jesus Hernandez

Product or service design, Innovation, Systems change

Ana Lucia

Conflict resolution

Alejandra Ortiz Medrano

Lorena Tamayo

Nicaragua

Karla Bojorge Melendez

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Liesbeth (Liz) Kieboom

Nigeria

Harouna Abdolaye

Strategy Culture change, Teambuilding

Kingsley Atang

Panama

Fernando Carcache

Peru

Paola Pioltelli

Change management, Culture change Strategy

Senegal

Simon Lazarre-Badiane

Teambuilding, Culture change

Switzerland

Nadene Canning

Thailand

Jenn Weidmann

Strategy, Teambuilding, Conflict resolution, Product or service design

Uganda

Norah Bwaya

Culture change, Teambuilding Change management

Sam Bwaya

Change management, Culture change, Teambuilding

United Kingdom

Joey Leskin

Virginia Cinquemani

united States

Andres Marquez-Lara

Founder & CEO

Adam Schmidt

CEO & Principal Coach​​Smart Summit Coaching, LLC

Alex Handfinger

Culture change, Teambuilding, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Beth Kanter

Culture change

Brooking Gatewood

Systems change, Culture change, Product or service design

Judy Watts

Teambuilding

Mara D’Amico

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Teambuilding Culture change

Michael Brouri

Culture change, Teambuilding

Nate Stephens

Systems change, Culture change, Teambuilding, Product or service design

Paul Tevis

Product or service design, Innovation, Teambuilding, Culture change

Steve Brigham

Culture change, Teambuilding, Change management

Virginia Lacayo

Conflict resolution, Systems change Culture change, Change management

Yolonda Thomspon

Culture change, Teambuilding, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Malcolm Glover

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Conflict resolution

Matt Orr

Product or service design

Rachael Reichenbach

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Systems change, Change management, Culture change

Bridget Brown

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

James Gutierrez

Change management, Cultural change

Crystal White

Strategy Change management, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Teambuilding

Corita Brown

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Change management; Culture change; Strategy; Teambuilding

Deborah Bilek

Gloria Alvarez

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION, STRATEGY SYSTEMS CHANGE, PRODUCT OR SERVICE DESIGN

Hillary Trudell

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION, STRATEGY

Angela Carlberg

Chris Clark

Dave Chandrasekaran

Diana Pasquali

Kari Kwinn

Kim Sescoe

Michael Randel

Robin Sweet-Ransom

Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken

Ted Kniker

Jennifer Berman

Dr. Elizabeth Speck

Emeobong “Eme” Martin, MPH

Rizwaan Akhtar

Alejandra Ortiz Medrano

Rita Alma

Maz Bednarczyk

Diane Garza

Cari Caldwell

LaShauna Austria

Jeremy Blanchard

Jason Biehl

Darren Jones

Jessica Brockmann

Jomil Bell

Jessica Fan

Keesa V. Johnson

Beatriz Coningham

Cherice Hopkins

Cheryl Shah

Joseph McIntyre

Brian Zuluaga

Lorena Tamayo

Paul Kuhne

Alexandra (Alex) Gaspar Martins Teixeira

Jessi Bellama

Carlos Gaviria

Katy Mamen

Laura Ines Romero

Dr. Kerriann Peart

Mark Hecker

Carmen Franco

Gabe DeRita

Anaitée Mills

Alyssa Smaldino

Caterina Rodriguez

Guayana Páez-Acosta

Angela Umoru-David

Dee Dee Mendez

Deirdre Maloney

Gabriel DeRita

Jenifer Gager

Loree Lipstein

Tes Cohen

Jake Wild Crea

Armando X. Orduña

Julian Johnson

Mara D’Amico

Mia Y. Anderson

Michelle Helman

Nina Bhatia

Nischa Pieris

Stefanie Singer

Steven Hart

Nischa Pieris

Stefanie Singer

Ángel Zambrano

COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
CARACAS, VENEZUELA

Ángel Zambrano Cobo is Communications Specialist at UFacilitate. As a communicator and cultural manager based in Caracas, Venezuela, he collaborates with groups and organizations that seek to build community and generate change through projects of social innovation, cultural action and human rights.

 

He is also a founding member of Ciudad Laboratorio (@ciudlab), a civil association that seeks to influence urban experience and transformation through observation, art and pedagogy. In 2017 he was part of the founding team of Labo Ciudadano, a social innovation lab focused on human rights, social fabric and nonviolent mobilization. Until mid-2022 he was co-general coordinator of this organization, and today he is part of its advisory board. 

Leigh Terenz Soltis

PROJECT COORDINATOR
ILOILO, PHILIPPINES

Leigh’s expertise in business process management has been shaped by her diverse professional journey. Starting as a customer care representative while still in college, she steadily progressed.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in business management from Central Philippine University, Leigh transitioned into roles with increasing responsibility. She began as a virtual assistant for US professionals, where she efficiently supported top-tier management with various tasks including managing company materials, workflows, training, and finance.

Leigh’s career path led her to management roles overseeing teams across industries like real estate, medical, construction, and cleaning. Her hands-on experience in these sectors provided her with a solid understanding of business operations and management practices.

Additionally, Leigh demonstrated her skills in sales and marketing as a successful sales executive, closing service deals. Her role as an events support generalist at a KPO company further broadened her skill set, contributing to delivering services to clients worldwide.

Leigh’s diverse background and proactive approach make her an asset in optimizing business processes and driving success.

Aparna Bhat

Chief Operations Officer

Aparna is Chief Facilitator Builder at UFacilitate, helping to select and onboard high-quality facilitators to the UFacilitate family. For the last 7 years, she has been working with early growth stage impact startups across India, South Africa, and Latin America, helping them identify the business models and value propositions, create a growth strategy, raise funds and measure their impact. During her time working with education nonprofits in India, she learned about the critical role that good facilitation plays in ensuring meaningful engagements and also got trained by the Facilitators Network Singapore. While working with an accelerator in Latin America, she created a facilitator’s handbook for online and offline engagements, equipping the reader with the basic tools and thinking steps.

Aparna’s aim through UFacilitate is to take the simple handbook many steps ahead and help leaders in the impact space innovate effectively, make decisions, and build projects that involve multiple stakeholders and have large-scale impact.

Andres Marquez-Lara

FOUNDER & CEO

Andres Marquez-Lara is the Founder and CEO of UFacilitate, a global facilitation company that makes cross-cultural collaboration work! They help high-performing teams deal with the “messy human stuff”—egos, cultural differences, miscommunication, conflict—that creates silos that put their mission at risk. They break down barriers to collaboration across people, departments, and organizations. They’ve worked with groups like the World Food Program, The Nature Conservancy, Easterseals, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and many others.
 
He teaches leadership development in various executive programs at Georgetown University. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership (CEPL) at George Washington University. He is also an Advisor at the Emergence Project for Purposeful Entrepreneurship at Stanford University.
 
He has been recognized by Ashoka and the American Academy of Certified Public Managers. He earned a BA in psychology from Duke University, and a graduate degree in clinical community psychology from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello in Caracas, Venezuela. He lives in the triangle area in North Carolina with his wife and two young children.

Hi There! Subscribe now and get a free download of the PDF “The 8 Points of Effective Facilitation”.