Leadership is not a title. It is a choice to rise up a chair, bring some like-minded people around you and start a conversation that will change everything.
That is what a Beyond Success transformation table is, and if you are one of the people who has ever wondered how to actually bring real, lasting change to your church, your workplace, your neighborhood, this is your invitation to begin.
I have said for years that everything depends on and flows from leadership; what I have not said often enough is how small the starting point can be.
All you need to start with is a table and a few willing participants.
What a transformation table actually is
A Beyond Success transformation table is a round table of six-to-eight people who meet weekly for seven sessions of sixty to ninety minutes, and each session is about a value: attitude, personal growth, priorities, relationships, an optional faith session focusing on your most important relationship, moving from good intentions to good actions, and finally, moving from success to significance (EQUIP).
Each session involves a video teaching from me, discussion in the group, self-examination, and each individual decides one action step to take in the next week before breaking back into small groups (EQUIP Program Overview).
The table format is not incidental; we have found through much experimentation that people transform in different ways when seated in a circle facing each other, rather than in a traditional classroom setup (EQUIP Program Overview).
The table is small enough that no one can hide in the back or on the sides.
It is intimate enough that everyone will be changed.
Step 1: Gather Your Group
Start with those who are already in your sphere of influence, whether they be co-workers, church members, neighbors, or friends. You’ll need at least six people at your table, and ideally eight (Beyond Success Program).
Do not necessarily recruit; simply invite those who are thirsty for truth, regardless of where they are on their spiritual journey. Beyond Success has always been focused on reaching out to those closest to us as an overflow of our faith, be they co-workers, business partners, neighbors, or friends (EQUIP).
You can also consider where you might meet, whether that’s in a church small group room, a conference room in your business, a break room at work, or even at someone’s home.
A Beyond Success table can take place anywhere: your community, your business, your office, your school, your church, or your home (EQUIP Program Overview).
Step 2: Get a Sense of the Role of the Facilitator
A facilitator is not a teacher; they are a servant leader, someone who sits at the table with the participants, leading them through the process and giving them freedom and responsibility. A mature person with an opportunity to contribute to their lives and make a difference (EQUIP Facilitator Profile).
To be a facilitator, one needs to walk through the seven weeks of the program as a participant and then be trained to facilitate and equip their own table. We do not believe anyone is qualified to facilitate until they have done the program themselves; you cannot lead others where you have not been yourself. As Scripture reminds us, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice” (Philippians 4:9).
As a facilitator, the best tool you have on your belt is your real life and your own walk with God. You are not invited to push others into a deeper relationship with God from a place of superiority. You are simply meant to stand before them and tell them what He has done in yours.
You don’t need to know everything, but you do need to have the humility to say that you do not.
Step 3: Know What to Expect In Seven Sessions
Each session consists of the weekly video, teaching notes, group discussion, personal application, and action steps.
By the fourth or fifth week, the group will begin to feel more comfortable with each other and conversations can open up to really deep, vulnerable sharing. The tables are often able to take the “most important relationship” session (the optional faith session) and segue right into a natural conversation about their relationship with Christ because they have already felt safe enough to be vulnerable (EQUIP).
Facilitators should budget about ninety minutes each week for the seven weeks and an hour or so to review the materials before each session. Everything is provided, at no cost to you; the materials, the trainings, the tools, there are none purchased or upsold (EQUIP Program Overview).
Step 4: Multiply
The real beauty of this program is the multiplication. When a table finishes the program, they are encouraged to pursue training to become facilitators themselves, spreading the concept to their families and businesses (EQUIP). One table can become two, then eight, and eventually a whole company or city can be transformed, the way Beyond Success has grown to more than five hundred sixty-five thousand tables in more than ninety countries (EQUIP). This is the ripple effect at work: one person leads, grows, and then develops the next leader who does the same.
Pull Up a Chair
You don’t need permission to care about the people around you, but you do need a table, a group of people, and seven weeks of your life to begin transforming this world.
If you are ready to host a Beyond Success table in your church, workplace, or community, visit iequip.org to start your own table.
