Want A Better Answer? Ask A Better Question!

Answers are very much based on the question asked. Some questions will produce shallow – not insightful – answers, while other questions will open up new possibilities and paradigm shifts. If you want a better answer, you have to ask better questions. Here’s how.

Much of the work I do with leaders is helping them to listen and ask good questions. Why? Because good questions are a best way to initiate innovative change – in people, processes, and products.

Once leaders begin to get curious and ask more questions, they often don’t

5 Questions to Focus On The Strength of Gratitude

What difference does it make if we see the glass as half empty instead of half full? A lot! The most powerful leadership strength you have is your mindset. Here are 5 questions to transform your results by focusing on the strength of gratitude.

When we think of strengths we usually think of abilities and skills. The more I help people to make significant shifts in their lives, the more I see the importance of

The Easy Way To Make Coaching Relevant

Coaching is recommended as an essential set of skills for managers, leaders, and of course, professional coaches (smile) because it provides personalized learning. However, even with artful listening and powerful questions our conversations can be irrelevant to the person we coach. There’s an easy way to make coaching relevant. I’ll show you how. 

Not long ago, I was thinking of purchasing a car for my teenagers. When I mentioned it to a friend, he coached me around how to get my kids to pay for it so they could learn financial responsibility. In the case of this car, however, money wasn’t my issue. My issue was

How To Turn Your Good Ideas Into Great Questions

Despite the popularity of brainstorming in meetings, sharing ideas doesn’t often lead to a creative discussion. Asking questions does. Here’s a technique to turn your good ideas into great questions.

Leaders, coaches, mentors, parents, and consultants all like their own ideas. “If people would listen to me and do what I said,” we think, “things would get a lot better around here.” The trouble is, everyone else is thinking similar thoughts regarding their own ideas.

Ideas have their place. As a leader, you may have

How To Breakthrough Conflict With Questions

We all have conflicts – ranging from little disagreements all the way up to major fallouts. How you respond to conflict, what you say or don’t say, can either escalate or reduce the conflict. To breakthrough conflict I’ve found nothing better than engaging the person by asking honest questions. 

I don’t like conflict. My natural style of conflict management is avoidance and silence. If I argued, it either didn’t help, or more likely, I said something that made it worse. This isn’t very productive, for obvious reasons.

I was frustrated by my natural (sarcastic) tendency to escalate conflict when arguing. I searched for better responses. What I found were questions. 

How To Ask Questions For Innovation

Innovation is driven by questions not answers. Questions send people on a journey. But not all questions and journeys are equal. Many questions rehash old territory, only confirming something can’t be done. While other questions expose assumptions, unlock creativity, and focus on how it can be done. Here’s how to ask questions for innovation.

A nonprofit organization came to me to help them with their managers who knew how to get things done, but weren’t developing people along the way. Employees felt used and uncared for by these managers. Employee turnover was high. Many simply moved on to other organizations that provided more personal and professional development.

5 Ways To Ask Questions For Innovation

Let me illustrate how to ask Innovation Questions using my work with the nonprofit above as an example. I’ll tell you what I did, then share each point.

How To Get People Into Action With One Simple Question

One of the toughest things in leadership is getting people into action. I discovered one simple, yet profound, question that motivates people to get into action.

People work hard. It feels like we are in action. We have meetings, plan, write proposals, and consult with others. These activities are one type of action. I think of them as planning-action. It’s easy to let planning-action keep us from