I recently attended a three-day workshop on how to lead transformational workshops. The experience was both meta and genuinely transformational, and a number of the lessons I took away continue to stand out for me.

Safety comes first. The workshop leaders highlighted over and over again that psychological safety comes first. You cannot belong to a group if you do not feel safe. They created the prerequisites for safety and then explained how they did it.

Groups create a caliber of wisdom no one person can achieve alone. In a transformational workshop, as opposed to a didactic presentation packed with content, leaders provide the framework and a touch of content, then allow the group to co-create the answers. What emerges is amazing.

Groups flourish with leaders who are authentically themselves. The workshop leaders asserted that when someone enters a workshop or a retreat they ask themselves these questions about the leaders, in this order:

• Are they human?
• Are they warm?
• Are they competent?

In the past, I focused on shoring up my credentials, thinking that was what mattered most. Instead, I now believe that group members most want a leader who engages with them as a human being, sees them, and is fully there in the room. It does not mean oversharing or giving over one’s role as leader, but it does mean being “present, not perfect.”

Applying these lessons

You can apply these lessons to any group, meeting, or function that you lead.

• Consider whether you are ensuring psychological safety, so that everyone feels a sense of belonging and that they can safely share their thoughts.
• In your events, create space for group wisdom to emerge. Trust that it is valuable enough to take the extra time to get all voices into the room.
• Look at how you are showing up. Could you show more of your vulnerability, your humanness?

Diane W. Shannon is an internal medicine physician and physician coach.