leading with q

8/10/2019 Leading With Q

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The leader of the past

knew how to tell.

The leader of the future

will know how to ask.

Peter Drucker


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Lead ing w ithQuest ions

by Michael MarquardtPresented by:

Rich Bateman

Anna BrownPam Martinez


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Overview

The Power of Questions

Asking Questions Effectively

A Guide for Leaders on Using

Questions


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The Power of

Questions


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Underused Management Tool

Pressure to provide fast answers

Tendency to ask ineffective questions

Fear of an unwanted answer

Social restrictions on question-asking

Inability to see others perspectives


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In a Questioning Culture

Be willing to admit you dont know

Encourage questions

Teach/develop questioning skills

Focus on empowering questions

Emphasize questions, not answers

Reward risk taking efforts


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Organizational Benefits of a

Questioning Culture

Improved decision making andproblem solving

Greater adaptability and acceptanceof organizational change

Improved motivation andempowerment of employees

Stronger teamwork Enhanced innovation


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Individual Benefits of a

Questioning Culture

Greaterunderstanding andskills inorganizational andpolitical realities

Stronger

commitment tolearn and develop

Stronger self-leadership

Greater self-

awareness

Greater self-confidence,

openness, flexibility

Better listening andcommunication

Improved conflict

management


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Asking QuestionsEffectively


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Trouble with Questions

Our desire to protect ourselves

We are too often in a rush

Lack of skills in asking questions

Corporate culture can discourage

questions


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Unhelpful Questions

Disempowering questions

Leading questions

Multiple questions


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Great Questions

Selfless, in the spirit of sharing

Asked at the right time

Fresh and insightful

Both supportive and challenging


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The Art of Asking Questions

The art of questioning can lead to

impressive results, asking inappropriate

questions usually closes off learning.

Good questions can become great

questions when the science of inquiringis blended with the art of questioning.


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Learning vs. Judging:

The Mindset for Asking Questions

Adam (2004) emphasizes, our mindset frames how we seethe world.

Our Mindset:

Programs our limitations

Allows us to see our possibilities

Defines the parameter of our actions and interactions

Our mindset is determinant in the types of questions we askothers and ourselves. Our individual mindset determineshow we observe, understand, and accept others andourselves.


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The Learner

Leaders who focus on learningrather than judging

can be flexible and relate to others. They operate in

collaborative and innovative mode.

Leads others to:

Thinking objectively,

Creating solutions,

Relating in a win-win way.

They ask genuine questions, they don't question

something they already know the answer to and never

to embarrass someone.


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The Judger

Leaders who are judgmentalput employees on

the defensive.

Leads others to:

Hide their mistakes,

Defend their behavior

Refusal to ask for help.

(Vicious cycle)


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Steps in Questioning

Process:

Break the iceget the conversation going

Set the stageexplain the topic

o The point is to let others know where you are

coming from Ask what you want to ask

o Make sure your questions are empoweringrather than disempowering

Listen attentivelyto the answerso Respect peoples thought process.

Most importantFol low up


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Creating a Questioning

Culture

The goal for the inquiring leader is to

change the corporate culture from one

of telling to one of asking, to helpeveryone see and understand that

questions need to become their primary

communications tool. (2005)


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Strategies to Build a

Questioning Culture.

Start at the top.

Create an environment that enables people to take risksand ask more questions.

Connect the values and processes of the organization to

the use of questions. Optimize the opportunities to ask questions by building

questions into every business activity.

Reward and appreciate questioner;promote risk taking andtolerate mistakes.

Provide training for people to be better at and morecomfortable in asking questions.

Each of these strategies reinforces behavior connected tothe six hallmarks of a questioning culture.


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Make Sure Values andProcesses Do Not Conflict

with QuestionsLearning to lead is about discovering what you care about and

what you value.

What inspires us?What challenges us?

What encourages us?

How will we handle setbacks & disappointments?

What are our strengths and weaknesses?

How can we keep motivated and encouraged?

Asking these questions will help everyonea team, a department

an entire organizationdiscover who they really are and what

they value as a group.


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Provide Training in

Questioning

Encourage fresh questions by

highlighting the benefits of questions

and the tragedies caused whenquestions were not asked (such as the

Titanic, Challenger, and Bay of Pigs

stories in Chapter 1)


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Resistance to a Questioning

Culture

Leaders who try to build a questioning culture arelikely to see two kinds of resistance.

Those that are taken aback by a leader whobegins asking questions regularly, who are usedto the leader tell them answers instead of askquestions. (answer dependency)

Other leaders in the organization who areuncomfortable in adopting a questioning stylethemselves, who see their source of power asstemming from giving answers. (tellingdependency)


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A Guide for Leaders on Using

Questions


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Using Questions in

Managing People

Each question a leader asks can provide a

wonderful opportunity for the recipients to

become empowered, to do something that

they would not do before. Questions have

the potential to create confidence, to

enhance learning, to develop confidence,

to engender insights.


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Encouraging Action and

Innovation

Questions transform problem- and

possibility-talk into action as they move

people from present to future.

To encourage innovation and action,

leaders should encourage people tothink about their own solutions, instead

of giving them solutions to problems.


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Questions to Build

Leadership

Leadership isinspiring and showing

others new places where they havent

been earlier. Good leadership isshowing the way to self leadership.Pennti Sydanmaanlakka,

former HR director at Nokia


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Using Questions to Build

Teams

Leading Teams as a Coach-

QuestionerG-R-O-W

Encouraging Open Discussion andDebate

Energizing Team Meetings

Technical and Adaptive types ofProblem Solving


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Using Questions to Shape

Strategy and Enable Change

Questions for Customers

Questions for Vendors and Partners

Questions for the Community Develop, Lead, and Transform the

Organization


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Summary

Becoming a Questioning Leader

Becoming a Leader Who Asks

Questions Leading in the Twenty-First Century

with Questions

Respond to this Question - How can you use this question - ?


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Poor leaders rarely ask questions

of themselves or others. Goodleaders, on the other hand, ask

many questions. Great leaders ask

the great questions.

Michael Marquardt

leading with q

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