The number one question a Leader needs to ask

The number one question a Leader needs to ask.

Teaching and training leadership is big industry. It fills bookshelves and keeps recruitment companies and training businesses busy.

I see a lot of people leading others and you can learn a lot from what they do. And while there’s a huge variety of leadership approaches, there is one thing that I have concluded.

There’s one question all leaders should be asking. As I said I’m taking this learning from personal experience, but credit is also heavily due to the books of John Maxwell.

By me saying this I’m not playing down any other questions. But this one is appeals to me the most:

What do you think?

Maxwell sums up just how powerful this question is by observing that it can inform the following things:

1) Gathering information

This question can be used to get more information than you would alone. None of us know it all, and in most things, the results are better when we collaborate. Even if that’s just in thought, it really helps.

As a leader, it has an additional bonus of helping build the context. This is crucial to any decision making. Asking this question in a non-biased way gets all sorts of answers, but you will always gather information.

2) Confirming intuition

We all get those niggles and voice in our head when someone says something we disagree with. We also know that feeling of approving of what we see. But when you’re in a leadership position, it’s important not to bias your team with those opinions before a decision has been made.

Simply asking ‘what do you think?’ allows your intuition to be confirmed or put down – without shaping the answer. This has to come often, though. If you only ask ‘what do you think?’ when you are being sarcastic, or when you want to question someone’s actions, the question will always be seen to have an agenda.

3) Assessing judgement or leadership

Asking ‘what do you think?’ is a great way of building a picture of someone’s judgement skills. Having just come out of a conference call or a client meeting, it’s worth asking someone new to it ‘what do you think?’ This could lead to just an analysis of what happened, or a plan to move forwards, or a shrug of the shoulders. It’s a powerful question.

4) Teaching how you think

After asking the question, it’s a great opportunity to teach. Explaining why you’ve asked it allows them to see your thought process leading up to it and fills in a lot of gaps that otherwise take a long time to convey.

5) Processing a decision

After a decision has been made, it’s hugely helpful for the team to get behind it if you ask them what they think. This question gives people the chance to raise concerns knowing the decision has already been made, and giving you as a leader an opportunity to bring them around, or it can give you the support of other team members. If you didn’t ask before the decision, it brings in that opportunity to an open and honest discussion on whether it was the right thing to do.

In my experience, asking ‘what do you think?’ allows you to grow as a leader. John Maxwell raises some great points about leadership and this one is probably one of his most effective and simple techniques to improve your team.

For more information on Maxwell and his books, take a look at his website.

In conclusion, I suppose it’s fitting to ask… what do you think?

In addition if you would like to read my future posts then please kindly connect via twitter: @SafarazAli