Ask Questions

I used to have a boss a long time ago who never answered a single question I asked. He only replied with questions. And because of it, he got better work out of me, he stayed informed and he taught me self-reliance. No matter what I asked him, he’d always reply: “What do you think we should do?” Sometimes he’d ask if I’d considered certain circumstances or impacts -- but he never gave me an answer -- he always helped me find the answer myself. He was a great leader.

The quality of a leader cannot be judged by the answers he gives, but by the questions he asks. Leadership is not about always being right, it’s about finding the right answers. And finding the right answers can only come when you involve others. The reason is simple: You only know what you know and you don’t know what you don’t know. The reason a leader needs to ask questions -- and lots of them -- is to gain more information, learn more and hear other perspectives. Only then can the best decisions be made.

Knowing how to ask questions is not as easy as it sounds. Many people ask leading questions -- questions designed to elicit the answer they want. “What do you think of option A?” is a leading question. “What do you think is the best option?” is not.

Great leaders all know they don’t know everything and never try to prove they do. They don’t mind if it is their idea or someone else’s idea that gets implemented as long as it is the best idea that moves forward. They stay smart by surrounding themselves with people who are smarter and know more about certain subjects than they do. Again, great leaders don't know all the answers; they are the ones who know how to inspire others to help them find the best answers.

Asking questions is a remarkable tool and it should be used as often as possible, not just when a decision needs to be made.

This was originally posted on Askmen.com from my column, The Logistics of Leadership

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Comments

[ruanjingjie]

Headsettet har en svært viktig posisjon i computer periferiutstyr. Spill, musikk, video, Dre Beats overalt. Kafeer, kontorer og andre anledninger, Beats by Dre, er en viktig produkt av databrukere. Marked Beats by Dre Studio merkevaren mange produktlinjer er også svært homogen, fra enkle hodetelefoner ca 10 yuan til hundre yuan, et par hundre dollar til flere tusen dollar i high-end hodetelefoner, statiske lytter til Dr Dre Beats. Å plukke et par av pris, god kvalitet, er merkekjennskap ikke rart, kan du være litt forvirret og engstelig. Det finnes nær titalls til modellene kjente til de velkjente merker av produkter, er det nesten ikke navn pris lav såkalt no-name er ikke forferdelig parallellimport, gjorde du ikke tør garantere å selge virksomheter også kan ikke garantere din lomme pengene de aldri ville gjøre en slik garanti.

[merchant accounts]

Never stop asking question, that's what Einstein said.

[Cynthia Holladay]

Thank you for a great post, Simon -- and to the commentators, too. I wrote about this topic several years ago which still defines my experience: "How Do You Show Up As A Marketer?" (http://bit.ly/baG9px)

[David Hassell]

Simon, as usual, great stuff! I actually just came across this related article while browsing the EO homepage and thought you and your readers would enjoy: http://www.eonetwork.org/knowledgebase/specialfeatures/Pages/SixWaystoImprovetheWayYouAsk.aspx

[Bob Evans]

More from visa ceo Dee Hock:

Executives and secretaries alike are going to find themselves breaking down in tears. It's going to take a year -- or more. But it's absolutely essential. Because what we're trying to do is build a community. And it's only when that community has solid agreement on purposes and principles that you can start talking about the concept and structure of the organization.

[Bob Evans]

This is a quote from the Former legendary ceo of the Visa card..Dee Hock that generated over a trillion in sales.

To start with, he says, "unless we can define a purpose for this organization that we can all believe in, we might as well go home." That's "purpose" as in, "We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union .... " The purpose has to be an authentic statement of what the organization is about, not some platitude cooked up by a consultant.
Next, you're going to have to agree on a set of principles for the organization. That's "principles" as in, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal .... " Again, this isn't a bunch of platitudes, but a manifesto of what the people in the organization believe in and care about in their gut. And getting there is going to be downright excruciating. You're going to struggle to articulate things you never even knew you felt. How do you really feel about power, for example, or autonomy, or job security, or how the money flows?

What do you think simon?

[William Cunningham]

This is a great post. I think that most executives feel that if they don't have answers they aren't worth their salary. Asking real questions means the willingness to explore for the right answer whereever it leads.

My experience has been that it generally leads to a better answer than the initial opinions stated by the meeting's participants, including, most of all, mine.