The best leaders I know wield questions like a surgeon wields a scalpel…carefully, precisely, respectfully and always with an objective in mind.
4 Reasons Why Questions are a Leader’s Best Friend:
1. Questions teach. They encourage those around us to think through and around issues. Helping people see things beyond their role or their function…and encouraging them to look at the bigger picture is best accomplished through deft questioning, not lecturing.
2. Questions promote innovation. I was on the receiving end of this one after spending a considerable amount with my team working through a problem to arrive at a solution: If it turns out that this approach is not acceptable, how else might you solve this problem? The new solution…a very different one turned out to be a much better approach.
3. Questions promote performance. Just the knowledge that the boss asks tough, non-judgmental questions motivates people to think harder and deeper about their ideas and approaches. A good boss wants as much gray matter of his/her team as possible!
4. Questions promote improved decision-making. Similar to the question for innovation above, effective leaders ask questions that encourage their team members to reframe situations when evaluating a decision. Something perceived as a problem might well be approached in a different manner when framed as neutral or even as an opportunity.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
Learn the art of asking questions, but remember to wield them like a surgeon: carefully, precisely and respectfully. Emphasis on the “respectfully” portion, or, you risk crossing the line from positive to intimidating.
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[…] Petty wrote a great post, 4 Reasons Why Questions Are A Leader’s Best Friend. It inspired this post–it’s been something I’ve spoken about often, but never […]
Art,
You are so right about the power of questions!
To reinforce your second point, one of my favorite and most empowering questions is a version of “What would happen if…?
Thanks for your continuing contributions.
Ed
Thanks, Ed! Love the “if” question. I’ll use that one (with attribution)! Cheers, -ARt
Thanks for the short but powerful article. I really appreciate the emphasis on respectful. I think one more powerful reason to ask questions is to get more information and minimize blind spots. It’s so easy for leaders to fall into the “must have all the answers or I appear weak” frame of mind, and if they ask questions with curiousity and open to the idea that they can learn from their staff and colleagues around them (or other stakeholders), it can be tremendously powerful.
Denise, well-said! Your topic is worthy of its own blog post! Thanks, -Art
For someone just starting in a leadership role, I loved this piece. I think I have a lot to learn in this area… Maybe I’ll spend some time brainstorming some question stems to get me going. Any suggestions?
Emily, congratulations on your leadership role! From long experience and practice (and trial and error!), the questions tend to generate naturally. I’m always interested in whether someone has looked at an issue from different perspectives. I like to understand whether they’ve thought through the potential risks of a course of action. I like to understand what they might have learned from a particular experience. When dealing with more senior professionals, the categories are the same…with more emphasis on how well they’ve connected strategies with tactics and actions. All of those provide some nice starters for your question lists. Thanks for stopping by here and happy leading! -Art
Hi Art, great post and I wholeheartedly agree. Asking questions gets us the information we need to make decisions. Far too many times people jump to the wrong conclusion only to find if they just would have had a bit more information they would have understood what really was going on. Thank you for the good information.
Thanks, Tina!
[…] Petty provides a great answer to a brilliant question: how can questions improve the way I lead? 4 Reasons Why Questions are a Leaders Best Friend looks into the benefits of being […]