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Whether you're facilitating workshops, leading teams, or navigating complex decisions, here you'll find practical tools, frameworks, and lessons drawn from my real-world work with leadership teams and organizations.
I'm Jackie Colburn. Strategist, facilitator, human.
For nearly two decades, I've partnered with teams across industries to navigate complexity, unlock possibilities, and design a better way forward.
How to support more intentional ways of working: A corporate wakeup call
Now, more than ever, we have an opportunity to act and work differently, creating new ways forward that are authentic and put people first (rather than profits). But doing so can be extremely challenging in environments where being heart centered isn’t easy. Here are 4 steps for cultivating this in your own life and work.
Become a better facilitator with 5 tips for improving your active listening skills
The ability to be an active listener is pretty much a non-negotiable for facilitators, but that doesn’t mean the skill comes naturally to everyone. If you want a little support honing your active listening skills, here are 5 actionable tips you can start folding into your facilitation practice to make your sessions a more positive experience for everyone.
The facilitator's dilemma: How much subject-matter expertise do you really need to lead an effective workshop?
Doing some backgrounding is a standard part of a facilitator’s prep process, but finding success is actually more about learning to discern between too much, not enough, and just the right amount of intel. So, what does “just right” look like? That’s exactly what I’m breaking down to help you better focus your energy and let go of expectations that you need to have all the answers.
3 workshop formats to help spark innovation with your team
Want to cultivate a more dynamic, engaged, and successful organization? Who doesn’t! One of the most impactful ways to achieve this goal is to take a more intentional approach to innovation. Learn the benefits of doing so, and three different workshops formats that will jumpstart the process for you team.
What the power to pivot says about your facilitation style
Guiding groups successfully requires responsiveness. Whether you facilitate workshops regularly, or frequently find yourself in the role of meeting leader, this necessary skill can often be the difference between a stellar session, or one that misses the mark. Here’s why it matters, and what the power to pivot says about your facilitation style.
How to prioritize for a sane life: lessons from 7 years as a solopreneur
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at 6 “secrets” I’ve cultivated over the past 7 years working for myself as a facilitator and strategic workshop leader. They’ll help you manage your day-to-day life in a way that’s organized, enjoyable and sustainable.
4 ways to engage the disengaged people in your meeting
Hard-to-handle participants are par for the course if you frequently facilitate meetings and workshops. While it’s stressful when these things happen, it doesn’t need to be the thing that keeps you up at night. Here are 4 tips for managing the checked-out or disengaged attendees in your meeting.
If you open a meeting with icebreakers, end with these wrap-up equivalents for better closure
If you’re looking for a more meaningful and actionable way to wrap up meetings, take a look at these 5 options for closing your next session. They’re organized based on the scenarios meeting leaders and facilitators often find themselves in, with practical advice for each.
A campaign for using exclamation points without shame
Have you ever edited an email or text message before hitting “send” in an effort to trim down your exclamation point use? Most of us have. Where did our obsession with exclamation-point censorship come from, and why are we wasting precious headspace on editing the emotion out of out of our emails? I think it’s time to rewrite the script.
Here’s what happens when you make time for play every single day
If data shows that having fun is critical to our health and wellbeing – and it does – why do we often relegate it to weekends, special occasions and sporadic occurrences Maybe it’s because play time is in constant competition with productivity? It’s time to flip the script on having fun. Here’s why you should make more time for play, along with three easy steps for putting intention into action. I promise the benefits will ripple across the different areas of your personal and professional life.
Killer resources for curious, creative people
Are you committed to constant discovery? Do you like learning about yourself and the world around you? Is curiosity something hardwired within you, or something you aim to cultivate more of? If so, I’ve got a few amazing resources to share that will speak to anyone who loves to reimagine what it means to live and thrive in this world.
More icebreakers you can steal for better meetings
What helps start a hard meeting on a positive note? How do you encourage team members to think bigger? The answer: icebreakers. I thought I’d share a few more scenarios in which they’re particularly helpful. Feel free to copy and paste them into your next session!