The Most Underutilized And Most Powerful Leadership Tool
October 17, 2019Stay in the know with exclusive industry news, click here and subscribe to our eNewsletter today!
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Explaining expectations is the first positive habit of inspiring coaches. But explaining is only a one-way process. To continue to inspire winning results and relationships, ask questions to initiate two-way communication and engage your team.
Coaching is more about asking questions than it is about knowing the answers. Managers tell while coaches ask. Business schools don’t teach courses on asking questions, so leaders rarely, if ever, study the art of questioning the way they would study financial reports. Additionally, most leadership training focuses on identifying problems and creating solutions, but inspiring coaches focus on asking the right questions to help their teams identify problems and create solutions. This skill better engages teams, and it also takes the pressure off the coach to know all the answers.
When it comes to coaching, questions are really the answer. Asking questions is a long-established practice to demonstrate respect, diffuse tense situations, obtain buy-in, and make employees feel valued in a way that financial rewards cannot. Your questions either expand or limit the solutions and creativity your team will generate.
A few summers ago, we enjoyed a family trip to Greece. It is a land of boundless beauty and tremendous thinkers. While touring the Acropolis, our guide mentioned that while scheduling its restoration, time was built into each worker’s day to spend time thinking! Imagine that happening almost anywhere else in the world, but since Greece’s history is built upon the minds of the world’s greatest thinkers it makes sense.