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Leading Your Inner Team
Leading Your Inner Team
Kontenido
This activity invites you to explore your inner dynamics as a trainer by working with the concept of the “Inner Team”
In complex situations, especially when working in teams, trainers often experience internal tensions between different needs, values and reactions. Rather than seeing this as confusion or inconsistency, the Inner Team approach understands this as a natural and valuable diversity of inner voices.
He introduced the Inner Team as part of his broader communication psychology (especially in Miteinander reden).
Further development and practical application (especially using role play and constellations) were influenced by systemic therapy traditions, constellation work (e.g. inspired by Bert Hellinger) and applied coaching approaches
Each person carries multiple inner “team members”, such as the helper, the critic, the avoider or the leader. These voices interact, support, compete or block each other, shaping how we act in real situations. Effective action does not come from silencing these voices, but from becoming aware of them and developing the ability to lead them consciously.
This activity creates a space to externalise these inner voices, explore their relationships, and strengthen your capacity to act with awareness and intention in challenging trainer situations.
By completing this activity, you will be able to:
• Identify and describe different inner voices influencing your behaviour as a trainer
• Analyse the dynamics, tensions and alliances within your inner team
• Recognise the positive intention behind different inner voices
• Strengthen your ability to take conscious decisions by leading your inner team
Watch the video from the theory author F.S. von Thun explaining essentials about the Inner Team.
To turn on subtitles in your language, click on the cog icon ⚙️, click Subtitles -> Auto-translate -> choose your preferred language.
Source: Youtube channel of Schulz von Thun Institut Hamburg
Phase 1: Introduction.
Phase 2: Define a real case (15–20 min)
Participants individually identify a real situation, for example:
- conflict with a colleague
- difficulty taking leadership in a group
- saying “yes” when they want to say “no”
Phase 3: Identify the Inner Team
Participant reflects and writes: What voices are present in this situation?
Examples: “The helper”/ “The critic”/ “The avoider”/ “The leader”/ “The rebel” / “The people-pleaser”
Phase 4: Set the Inner Team (constellation)
Participant chooses one person per inner voice and one person as the “I” (self / leader).
Arrange them in space: closer/farther depending on influence; sides can represent tension or alliances
Each person receives a role name and a short instruction (“You are the ‘inner critic’”)
Phase 5: Enact the “team meeting”
Now the group acts out the internal dialogue. Voices interact - they argue, support, interrupt, form alliances.
Phase 6: Reveal positive intentions
For each voice, ask:
- What is your positive intention?
- What would be missing without you?
Phase 7: Strengthen the “I” (inner leadership)
- Now focus on the leader of the inner team.
- Core idea from the method:
- The “I” is like a team leader or conductor guiding the voices
In the final reflection, participants explore what they have learned from the experience, what surprised them, and what they would like to change in how they respond to similar situations in the future. Observers can also share what they noticed about patterns and dynamics.
Reflect together on what these insights mean for your ongoing development as a trainer.
Go to the badge and submit evidence from your reflection on your inner team and how you lead it.
The Awero created this educational resource and activity for the Erasmus+ Accreditation training for trainers.
This activity supports trainers’ competence development in the This activity supports trainers’ competence development in the "Cooperating Successfully in Teams" area. Activity content and badge-issuing criteria aligned with the European Training Strategy (ETS) competence model for trainers working internationally.
Optené badge di aktividat
Inner Team Leader Optené e badge akí
The badge earner explored their inner dynamics as a trainer using the Inner Team approach and reflected on how different inner voices influence their behaviour, decisions and interactions in team situations.
To get this badge, trainer:
Identified and described different inner voices present in a real training or teamwork situation; Analysed the dynamics, tensions and relationships between these inner voices; Reflected on the positive intention and function of each inner voice; Explored how to take a more conscious and leading role in managing their inner team
Activity content and badge issuing criteria aligned with the European Training Strategy (ETS) competence model for trainers to work internationally.
Learning duration: 2 hours
Tasks
Task no.1
Evidence verified by: un organisadó di aktividat
Share your discoveries from the Inner Team session. Namely, share at least a few ideas on how you can have better leadership over your diverse inner team?
Skills
ETS-TR
#Being aware of the team processes and how they affect the team’s effectiveness
ETS-TR
#Managing disagreements constructively
Organisadónan
Awero
Badge issuer recognized with
Badgecraft ta fasilitá e plataforma akí i ta desaroy'é huntu ku organishonnan líder den edukashon. E programa Erasmus+ di Union Europeo a ko-finansiá kreashon di e promé vershon di e plataforma akí. Tuma kontakto ku support@badgecraft.eu.
Plataforma
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