Framing Questions for Facilitating Leadership Metaphor Explorer™

Here are steps and framing questions to use with the Leadership Metaphor Explorer™ Card Deck. This process can be adapted to any size group, for pairs of people, or for individual reflection.

First choose a framing topic or question.
"Pick a card that says something about ... "
For example:

• Leadership in my organization ... or community, or team.
• How do I myself practice leadership? Past, present, and future (3 cards)?
  
• What does leadership look like around here?
• What do I want leadership to look like?
• The kind of leadership we need for the challenges we face.
• This is us at our best.
• This is us at our worst.
• This is what we looked like during the crisis last week.
• These are our competitors.
• These are our clients or customers.
• This is the kind of talent we have in this organization.
• This is the kind of talent we need in this organization.
• This is me when I was younger.
• This is me now.
• This is me next year.

Next, talk about your choices using one or more framing questions.
Questions to talk about include:

• Why did you pick this card? Find out why others picked the cards they did.
  
• What are the strengths in this way of leadership? What are the weaknesses?
• What is the story? Tell the story behind the card.
  
• How do the cards connect or fit with one another? How do they help or hurt each other?
  
• What cards are more mature ways of leadership? Which are less mature? Why?
  
• Where do we have conflict? Explain the conflict using the metaphors.
  
• Which way would we like to be? What are we missing?
  
• What is the right combination of cards for our challenge? In what order?

Finally, reflect on what you have learned from the metaphors, and what steps you might take.

• What did we learn? What was surprising? What did we already know?
• What was this experience like emotionally?
  
• What is the wisdom expressed here?
• What new or changed beliefs about leadership does this suggest? Does this change how you define leadership?
  
• How does this suggest a different way of doing things?