Leading with Questions, 3rd Edition

CONCLUSION: BECOMING A QUESTIONING LEADER

We have probably all heard the adage, you become what you think about. What perhaps is even more true is that we become what we ask about. The people who are the most successful in life do not get to the top because of what happens to them or the statements that they make to others; they get to the top because of how they question what happens to them and the people and environment around them.

John Kotter, perhaps one of the most quoted experts on the subject of leadership, writes that the primary difference between leaders and managers is that leaders are those who ask the right questions whereas managers are those tasked to answer those questions.¹ Asking the right questions enables leader to discover what is the right thing to do; answering them allows managers to do the right thing.

The importance and power of leading with questions has hopefully been clearly demonstrated and established throughout the previous pages of this book. Knowing when, where, why, and how to ask questions can help leaders strengthen relationships with staff, build powerful teams, create a strong learning culture, build relationships with customers and other stakeholders, and support strategic change. More than that, when we make asking questions a standard practice, it changes us.

Asking Questions Changes Who We Are

Throughout the ten chapters of this book, we have seen the power of questions on people around the leader. However, questions impact the ...