Leadership and Asking Questions
In a recent issue of the Harvard Business Review, John Hagel III makes the case that Good Leadership Is About Asking Good Questions. Here's a sample of what he's getting at: "leaders should ask powerful and inspiring questions, convey that they don’t have the answers, and solicit others’ help to find them. The leaders I talk to tend to be nervous about this approach: Won’t it look like they don’t know what they’re doing? On the contrary, however, research has shown that expressing vulnerability and asking for help is a strong signal to others that you are trusting, and you’re more likely to be trusted in return. In fact, if you can learn to ask questions well, it can help you connect with others. Thinking together can put you on the path to solving intractable problems and sparking innovative thinking."
I've always enjoyed a section of Leadership Reno County that drives us to strive for appreciative inquiry or asking the right kind of powerful questions. Here's a sample of some examples:
Questions for Focusing Attention:
- What question, if answered, could make the most difference to the future of (your situation)?
- What's important to you about (your situation), and why do you care?
- What opportunities can you see in (your situation)?
- What would someone who had a very different set of beliefs than we do say about (your situation)?
Questions for Connecting Ideas and Finding Deeper Insight:
- What's taking shape? What are you hearing underneath the variety of opinions being expressed?
- What's the real meaning for you from what you've heard? What surprised you? What challenged you?
- What's been your/our major learning, insight, or discovery so far?
- If there was one thing that hasn't been said in order to reach a deeper level of understanding/clarity, what would that be?
Questions that Create Forward Movement:
- What would it take the create change on this issue?
- What's possible here and who cares? (Rather than "what's wrong here and who's responsible?")
- What conversation, if begun today, could ripple out in a way that created new possibilities for the future of (your situation)?
- What seed might we plant today that could make the most difference to the future of (your situation)?
These are taken from Vogt and Isaacs' 2003 book, The Art of Powerful Questions: Catalyzing Insight, Innovation, and Action. This was in a resource I have from WSU's Community Engagement Institute.
An act of leadership for you at this moment might just be a simple question, skillfully deployed. Step into this kind of action and let's see if we can progress on those issues we care about.
Phil Auxier
Leadership Reno County
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