How to Lead with Questions

At the end of the dinner, the president of our association asked the board of directors if we had any questions. My first thought, don’t you have any questions for us?

Over the last decade, I've listened to hundreds of senior executives speak to leaders in their organizations. These presentations were usually part of the guest speaker program built into our 5-day leadership development program. Most of the executives spent 45 minutes giving a presentation, followed by 15 minutes of audience questions. I rarely heard the executive ask any questions. What a missed opportunity? These senior executives had two dozen leaders captive for an hour and learned nothing about their challenges, issues, or opportunities.

I'm not saying that a presentation, followed by questions and answers, is a bad idea. I am saying leaders should ask questions when they have the opportunity to learn from their team. The father of modern management, Peter Drucker, believed that the first objective of an executive was to understand reality. Asking questions is a great way to have a “reality check.”

So, how often and how well do you ask your team members (at work and home) questions?

Besides understanding reality, asking questions communicates that you care about others' perspectives and issues. The founder of the National Speakers Association, Cavett Robert said, “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.” And how do your people really know you care about them? They know you care when you ask about what they care about! Thus, you show you care by asking questions about what is important to them.

How to Ask Leading Questions

Here are three practical ways to show your team members that you care about what they care about:

1. Schedule a brief (five minutes) one-on-one meeting with individual team members once a week. During this five-minute meeting, compliment them for doing something right or well that week (i.e., something to celebrate), ask them if there's something getting in the way of their work, and how you might help remove this obstacle.
2. Include a question and answer agenda item for all your meetings. Tell your team that the questions will go both ways. They will be invited to ask you questions and provide feedback by answering your questions.
3. Ask your team to write, nonstop for one minute, the answer to the following incomplete sentence: This would be an even greater place to work if...

   During your debriefing, write down the common themes that you and the team can take action on. Then ask people to take ownership of the various tasks that everyone agrees will make the environment an even greater place to work.

How surprised will you be when you discover how much more engaged and motivated your team is because you ask leading questions? So, what other approaches do you know that might increase the number of questions leaders ask? What techniques do you use to get others to share their concerns or ideas?

Keep stretching when you're pulled,
Dave