Life after the Leading Groups course
Life after a course is rarely a one-size-fits-all path - so what does it look like in practice?
There’s the thrilling moment of graduation and then there’s what comes next: a slower, quieter shift that shows up in how you plan, how you listen, how you hold a room, and how much you trust yourself when things don’t go to plan.
The skill of facilitating has a particular way of doing this. It doesn’t stay contained within workshops or training rooms. It threads itself into everyday work, leadership sessions, client conversations, team meetings, and moments of uncertainty where structure matters more than certainty.
Talking to four alumni of Mischief Makers’ Leading Groups course, one thing becomes clear: life after the course isn’t just about becoming a facilitator. We’ll be looking at examples of:
how delivering better work shows up
re-discovering and understanding professional value
shaping how organizations operate as they scale
deciding where facilitation fits in one's future.
Let’s dive into life after the course.
WHEN FACILITATION BECOMES THE JOB
For Linda, DE&I Program Specialist at Nike, leading management workshops is part of her everyday role. After the course, something shifted. She felt it, the groups felt it, and her manager noticed it too.
The biggest benefit of the course for Linda is the toolkit she can consistently return to. The learned structure gives her confidence to hold the room, while creating space for conversations that are often rushed or missed altogether. Facilitation no longer feels like something she has to invent each time; it’s a practice she can rely on.
One part of the course that stayed with her most is the shared learning experience. Rather than focusing solely on outcomes, Linda values the journey a group takes together, trusting that well-designed structure allows participants to arrive at insights collectively, not individually.
Favorite tool from the course:
“I keep on finding myself reaching for the Mischief Makers workshop cards whenever I need to deliver a session. They are truly beneficial in the design phase.”
THE MOMENT YOU REALIZE ‘THIS IS FACILITATION’
Rosie, a freelance designer, didn’t sign up to become an expert facilitator but through the course, she realised she had been facilitating all along. Leading clients through decisions, shaping conversations, and holding emotional weight were already central to her work. What the course offered wasn’t instinct, but language.
“I didn’t call this facilitation before. I thought this was just how I worked.”
Once the work had a name, it started to change. Rosie became more aware of the value she brings into client relationships and more reflective about how her processes feel from the other side. She began to question how to hold space for different working styles, preferences, and levels of confidence. Most importantly she now significantly reduced the time she spends preparing for client workshops, thanks to the frameworks she learned.
For Rosie, the course brought along a better market positioning as a freelancer. Today, she sees herself not only as a visual designer, but as a brand strategist and facilitator, someone who helps clients navigate uncertainty with clarity, structure, and care. Alongside creative output, she now designs the process around it, structuring sessions to avoid unnecessary drift, introducing silent check-ins so clients can track progress without emotional strain, and holding space for the vulnerability that often comes with shaping a brand.
Favorite tool from the course:
“I love to listen to people. I really enjoy watching people come to conclusions. It does mean that sometimes I am very relaxed on time. Having the template runsheet helps me stay on the clock.”
FROM SKILL TO OPERATING SYSTEM
It’s one thing to change the facilitation practice of an individual. It’s another to influence how an entire organisation works together. Kat, Managing Director of Operations at Great Yellow, did exactly that.
What began as a course taken by two team members ahead of a growth phase has since become part of the company’s operating system, shaping everything from executive meetings to multi-day summits. While the initial goal was to bring more structure to team gatherings of around 15 people, the impact reached far beyond that.
Today, Great Yellow’s summits span multiple days and bring together more than 30 people without creating additional stress for Kat or her team. Planning has become easier, grounded in a trusted structure that allows the organisation to scale without losing clarity or culture.
“I think I used to try to plan the outcome way too much,” Kat reflects. “I would run the session in my own head and then try to get people there. The course taught me that the role is really about opening the discussion, setting the structure, and letting the group do the work.”
That mindset has shaped how the entire company gathers. Meetings now begin with intention-setting and check-ins, helping teams arrive in the same headspace before diving into decisions. What started as a small shift has grown into a shared rhythm, a clear example of how facilitation, once embedded, can quietly shape culture.
Favorite tool from the course:
“The IDOARRT pretty much became an integral part of every meeting at Great Yellow.”
CONFIDENCE - EVEN WHEN IT’S MESSY
Not long after finishing the course, Elshadai Smith-Mensah, Innovation Strategist at The Upside, was asked to support a series of workshops following a company acquisition. It was a delicate moment, shaped by power dynamics and cultural differences, made even more challenging by the fact that she couldn’t attend in person.
Rather than fretting, Elshadai leaned on the frameworks she had practiced during the course: clear timings, a structured deck, and exercises designed to surface difference without escalating tension. The work became about creating the conditions for the right conversation, not finding the “right” answer, recognising that in moments shaped by power and change, agreement matters less than shared understanding.
The nerves didn’t disappear. Anxiety and excitement still show up before every session. What changed was her trust in her preparation, and in the process doing some of the work for her.
Since the course, facilitation has also changed how Elshadai shows up as a participant. She notices group dynamics more closely, pays attention to how sessions are held, and supports collective momentum rather than competing for leadership. Facilitation is now a way of engaging with groups more intentionally.
Favorite tool from the course:
“I really like the idea of ‘hot starts’ and I talk about it a lot in groups. It’s a smart way to inject some playfulness while priming your group for the main activity.”
TRUST OVER MASTERY
Across these stories, one thing becomes clear: the Leading Group course doesn’t offer text-book perfect facilitation skills, but it gives you something more fit for real-life. It teaches you how to:
lead without controlling
structure without stiffness
show up with confidence without needing certainty
The skillset that makes people trust you with bigger rooms, bigger conversations, and bigger responsibility.
Written by our mischievous alumna: Kata Maklári - Leading Groups Cohort Fall 2025
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