The #2 Behavior Leaders Neglect
Don’t worry if you aren’t the smartest person in the room; be honest and ask questions. If you’re intelligent, be honest and stay curious. If you feel dumb, be honest and stay curious.
The second most important behavior of leadership is asking questions. The first is being honest.
Curiosity sees more than congealed brilliance imagines.
Leaders who don’t ask questions show up stupid, even if they’re smart.
Questions:
“Good questions inform. Great questions transform.” John Maxwell, “Good Leaders Ask Great Questions.”
I asked three of the best question-askers, “What helps leaders ask great questions?”
#1. Warren Berger
“Confidence.”
Warren explained leaders must be confident enough to admit they don’t have all the answers and daring enough to, “ask bold, ambitious, beautiful questions.”
Read “A More Beautiful Question”
#2. Bob Tiede
“Make frequent use of the word, ‘Might.’ Instead of “What is the best way for us to increase sales?” Ask, “What might be the best way for us to increase sales?”
Check out, LeadingWithQuestions.com.
#3. Mark Miller
“A commitment to lifelong learning (helps leaders ask great questions) – Without this, the weeds of pride will choke out your questions.”
Read “Uncommon Greatness.”
5 powerful questions smart leaders ask:
- What can we do with what we have right now?
- What makes you think this will work?
- Imagine we failed. What didn’t we do?
- How are we/am I blocking progress?
- What will a success report sound like in our next meeting?
Tips:
#1. Connect questions with something important in a person’s life. “I know you enjoy golf; how might we approach this opportunity with the second shot in mind?”
#2. Never hire someone who doesn’t ask questions during the interview.
#3. Curiosity inspires autonomy. People seek solutions on their own.
I listed five powerful questions leaders ask. What’s your favorite?
What’s most important about asking questions?
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220831-curiosity-the-neglected-trait-that-drives-success
My favorite question is #1.
I think it is important to ask question that focus on the task (“What resources will be need to hit the deadline?”) and ask questions that focus on how people are feeling. “How do you feel about this recent setback?”
Your comment reminds me that we can focus our curiosity on tasks and people. I notice that people often lean toward one or the other. They talk about tasks a lot or they ask about people a lot. Both makes sense.
I loved all five of these questions at the bottom of the post. This was my favorite;
“Imagine we failed. What didn’t we do?” That is a creative way to reverse engineer a plan…that question could really get people engaged and thinking.
I agree with you, dreamilyhideout. It’s a great way to address fear of failure head-on. In my experience, the fear of failure is much worse than actually failing. Understanding what we could learn has the potential to transform thinking from negative to positive.
Thanks for joining in today, Travis. The “imagine we failed” question seems to wake people up. Bad is stronger than good. No one wants to fail. The fear of failure can be useful. Glad you found it helpful.
“How do you know you are winning?” this can works for hard and soft objectives.
So true Chad. In order to answer the question we have to focus on behaviors and results. For example, what specific value will our customers enjoy?
I worked for someone who used to say, “If you are the smartest person in the room, go find another room!” A leader’s job isn’t to be the smartest person; it’s to help the smartest people get the job done.
Wonderfully said, Jennifer. Our problem is fearing the perception of others. I hadn’t thought about it, but if you’re always the smartest person in the room you are probably working way too hard. Plus it’s frustrating being surrounded by idiots.
Not to mention, how will you learn if you’re the smartest person in the room.
People who feel that way don’t need to learn. 😜
“Congealed brilliance!” What a great, disgusting word picture! Well done, Dan!
And what an encouraging comment, Michael. Thank you
Great post! We need not only to have the confidence to be curious but the courage to be curious. Sometimes it can be daunting to step into the unknown and that feeling of being uncomfortable can cause us to retreat into a safe place. All growth occurs outside our comfort zone.
Nicely said, Mark. And it’s good to see you here again.