29. LEADING WITH QUESTIONS - PART 1 - FLORIN LUNGU

Recorded Live at International Business Growth Radio (www.IBGR.Network)

In today’s world, a more and more valuable skill becomes listening. And questions play an important part in listening as we only get answers to the questions we ask.

 Show Objectives - The Why

 As business leaders, it is easy for us to fall into the trap of becoming the “Mr. Answer Man” or Ms. Answer Woman” and tell people what to do instead of leading with questions.

 The first approach has us lead from the position where we have all the answers and we’re directing our team, while the latter builds on our capacity to coach our team to reach their own answers, so they become empowered to move the business forward.

Asking questions is also a sign of curiosity, an interest in people, and one of the characteristics of a growth mindset. 

“Have the humility to learn from those around you.” – John C. Maxwell

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

People expect me to provide them with answers and what if I look uninformed or foul if I ask them what they think and what they suggest we should be doing?

That’s the dialogue that goes on in people’s minds when we teach them to adopt a coaching approach with their team.

What You Need to Know - The What

What we’ll cover today is:

• The value of questions
• You only get answers to the questions you ask
• Questions open doors that otherwise remain closed
• Engage in conversations and connect with people

Great questions to have at hand

• Who do you know whom I should know?
• What have you read that I should read?
• What have you done that I should do?
• How can I add value to you?

What You Need to Do - The How

How can make questions part of my life and how can I lead more with questions?

John Maxwell shares in the book, Good Leaders Ask Great Questions, two types of questions we should ask:

1.  Questions we ask ourselves.

a.      Am I Investing in Myself? A Question of Personal Growth

b.      Am I Genuinely Interested in Others? A Question of Motivation

c.      Am I Grounded as a Leader? A Question of Stability

d.      Am I Adding Value to My Team? A Question of Teamwork

e.      Am I Staying in My Strength Zone? A Question of Effectiveness

f.        Am I Taking Care of Today? A Question of Success

g.      Am I Investing My Time with the Right People? A Question of ROI

 

2. Questions we ask our teams:

a.      What do you think?

b.      How can I serve you?

c.      What do I need to communicate?

d.      Did we exceed expectations?

e.      What did you learn?

f.        Did we add value?

g.      How do we maximize this experience?

h.      What do I need to know?

i.        How do we make the most of this opportunity?

j.        How are the numbers?

k.      What am I missing?