Monthly Archive for May, 2010
You don’t ask this question so you can hear the answer, you ask it so your mentee can hear their answer. This is a question designed to help people understand that they should dream about their future. Isn’t it sad that we need to be encouraged to dream? Ask a six-year old and they’ll give [...]
Business, any business, is about people. I will defend that statement at any time, in any place, under any circumstance. Leaders know more people, usually because they’ve been around longer and had more opportunities to meet and converse with more people inside and outside their organization. When a leader leaves one company to go to [...]
When coaches and mentors ask this question, they’re taking responsibility in two areas–the quality of training programs and the quality of work experiences. Covers a lot of ground for a seven-word question doesn’t it? Let’s start with training. Training sessions that impart vast quantities of information without considerable time for asking questions and practicing are [...]
In the discussion of the last question, I suggested that building on strengths was a better way to go as a coach than trying to eliminate weaknesses. I hope I didn’t leave you thinking that you never had to do anything with the latter. This is the question that moves you into the tricky arena [...]
When you’re in a coaching situation, I believe that this is the best beginning question. Not that it is easy for people to answer. Far from it. Many of us are filled with childhood admonitions like "Don’t boast" and "Be humble." People who carry these messages often have great difficulty articulating their personal strengths. Some [...]
If you don’t ask this question shortly after you meet a new employee, if you don’t keep silent long enough for them to respond, and if you don’t answer truthfully any questions that they do ask, you’ve lost any chance for them to react positively to your questioning leadership style in the future. More than [...]
This question is probably the most blatantly selfish question in the entire book. Finding good questions becomes an obsession for leaders who learn the value and power of asking questions. What better way to find questions than to ask for them? Asking for questions within your organization works for a while. Every leader, even those [...]
More words adding up to longer answers do not necessarily provide more insight. Sometimes questions that force brevity can provide interesting answers that are easy to compare. This question falls into that category. Imagine asking this question of all new hires for six months. Depending on the size of your organization and your rates of [...]
Remember the last time you took a new job with a new employer? The reasons that brought you to that decision were undoubtedly many and complex. Did anyone ever ask you why? Probably not. Why don’t you do something different and start asking new hires why they decided to join your company? Asking this question [...]
This is a dangerous question to ask and if you haven’t established a reputation as a careful listener, a credible confidant, and a thoughtful leader, don’t ask it. If you do ask it without these credentials, you will be perceived as nosey, intrusive, and even phony. Walk into your favorite bookstore or log on to [...]