Beware the Dark Facilitator

This blog talks about definitions around sims, so there is one tangential addition to this lexicon I would like to make. The dark facilitator.

These are people who start off as real facilitators or coaches. But along the way, either because they switch jobs or get hungry for self gratification or just want more and see their chance, use their facilitator skills systematically towards a selfish and zero-sum agenda.

These dark facilitators still use their key words like: "fair", "right", "honest", and "open". They still use tones suggesting they are impartial. They act as if they are listening to you, and pretend to care. They still strive to control/"be helpful in" all interactions. But typically they are either asked for advice or to support a project as a trusted "just there to help" third party, and at the end, by their deliberate subverting of the process, they have gained significant personal power.

They show up at meetings when no one invited them. They ask for help from others "for the good of the cause," but remarkably end up with the credit for it. They ask others for paycuts during hard times, while their own salary is increasing. They are great at pitting friends against friends.

There is always a creepiness to them. They get increasingly and more obviously shifty. They get more and more controlling. They always sound confident and definitive, but their ability to sound right has no correlation with their ability to be right. Typically his or her peers in an organization catch on, but often resistance is only formed after it is too late. Worm-tongue is in charge. They are the last survivor.

You may have had some experience with dark facilitators. If so, I would appreciate any tales below. And if so, you have my sympathy.