Lead Well By Learning To Ask Questions

I once thought that as a leader I should know the direction to lead, know all the right answers, be able to encourage and motivate my employees, my direct reports, and answer well to supervisors above me. After a short term with this mind set, I found myself exhausted. I felt pressure and stress. Perhaps you have been there, too. My solution was to quit my job and go to work for myself. What I found, however, was I faced the same issues.

In my later years I have come to understand that the depth of life is too great to ever know all the answers. Much of the time the right direction to move is very poorly known. What I have come to know, is that the more questions I ask, the more clearly I can see ahead. I still self employed, but the volume of information, knowledge and wisdom I gain from others is greater than I could ever acquire on my own. All by asking questions.
Questions are powerful when used by leaders and managers of others as well. By employing questions in their leadership roles, they encourage participation of those they manage, they build teamwork and spur innovative thinking. They empower others to engage in the enterprise, building relationships and building equity within an organization.

Questions wake people up. They are forced to respond, if only in their minds. Questions increase communications skill within an organization, especially listening and persuading.

The key for any leader and manager is to build a culture around asking questions, clarifying with questions, pushing the boundaries with questions. Willingness to hear questions in an organization will create a safe environment where people can be challenged, solutions and be sorted, and decisions will be improved. Patrick Lencioni, in his book The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team describes the need for “unfiltered debate” for affective team decisions. A culture encouraging questions can help make that happen.

As a leader I encourage you to start asking questions, clarify the responses by asking again, and encourage your fellow workers to do the same. Create a culture of asking questions. You will develop a dynamic organization, flexible enough to meet the needs of a ever changing market place, and help others to develop their own leadership capabilities. Questions – who would have thought they could be so important to a thriving organization?