Jen Taylor

Jen Taylor. 

I’m an experienced management professional, whose career spans a variety of roles, levels and industries, . I easily transition between the “10,000-mile, blue sky view” and ground zero. A natural integrator, connector and communicator, I'm often called on to help others view seemingly disparate ideas in a whole new light. Through my 20+ years in the world of projects and change, I’ve learned how to skilfully navigate the complex, evolving environments that are the home ground of strategic initiatives.

My facilitation journey began in 1999 while working in the office of the South Peninsula Municipality’s CEO in Cape Town. Our team coordinated and facilitated the Municipality’s public participation process in numerous culturally and politically diverse communities. I cut my teeth co-facilitating these sessions with a deeply experienced colleague. We often started off with divided factions literally at each other’s throats and (mostly) ended with people having had meaningful conversation with one another. Sometimes the police had to be called. From this interesting beginning I fell in love with both the art and science of facilitation and have been facilitating meaningful conversations ever since.

As a Facilitator, I help to create space in which people play to their higher selves - intrinsically good, creative, accepting, open-minded. How I do this depends on who’s in the room. Not a cookie-cutter in sight. Bespoke, taylormade condition-making especially for you. This creates the psychological safety necessary for people to behave authentically and truly connect with each other. Anything else is just a waste of time.

My coaching journey began in 2010 during a time of transition and turmoil for our management team. Working with a coach allowed me to see the situation with fresh eyes, and to see the possibilities and choices available to me. Coaching sessions were a safe space for me to think through and explore these, and to come to my own realisations and decisions. After a couple of years as a coachee, In 2014 I completed a Certificate in Business Coaching and became a coach myself, formalising what I’d been doing naturally and informally over the years in my various leadership roles.

As a coach, I create a safe, yet challenging, space for people to think and speak into; where they can explore and be curious about themselves, their stories and their contexts. We discover options and possibilities together, with a view to them taking incremental, repeatable steps that transform how they show up. Transformed behaviour = transformed results. Every time.

In 2015 I started my own business, and as a Certified Scrum Master, I'm extending my Freelance Facilitation and Possibility Coaching to individuals and teams working in Scrum environments.