Bob Tiede, creator of Leading With Questions blog, discusses the benefits of leading with questions in leadership, question storming for generating strategic questions, and the power of open-ended questions. He recommends book 'The Little Red Book of Wisdom' and teases a future episode on artificial intelligence.
Leading with questions can be up to 10 times more effective than telling as a leadership approach, creating a questioning culture that engages all team members and leads to better decision-making and ownership of outcomes.
Leading with questions fosters a coaching relationship with direct reports, making them feel valued, respected, and empowered, while also tapping into the collective brain power of the team for better ideas and solutions.
Deep dives
Leading with Questions
The podcast episode explores the book 'Leading with Questions' by Bob Petey and Michael Markwartz. It highlights the difference between a telling leader and one who leads with questions, emphasizing that the latter can be up to 10 times more effective. Leading with questions creates a questioning culture that engages all team members' input, allowing for better decision-making and ownership of outcomes. The episode provides practical strategies for implementing a questioning culture, such as turning topics into questions on meeting agendas and using question storming. It also discusses the power of questions in coaching, creating change, and fostering a respectful and empowering work environment.
The Benefits of Leading with Questions
The podcast episode emphasizes the benefits of leading with questions, including fostering a coaching relationship with direct reports. By asking questions and actively listening, leaders make their team members feel valued, respected, and empowered. Leaders who lead with questions can tap into the collective brain power of their team, leading to better ideas and solutions. It also creates a positive and open culture that encourages input and promotes effective decision-making. The episode emphasizes the simplicity of incorporating questions into leadership practices and highlights the impact it can have on morale and engagement.
Creating a Questioning Culture
The podcast episode discusses how leaders can create a questioning culture within their organizations. It starts by recognizing that most people don't like being told what to do, and leaders can get the best out of their staff by asking questions. Practical strategies for creating a questioning culture include transforming topics into questions on meeting agendas, conducting question storming sessions, and eliciting input from staff before making decisions. By involving staff in decision-making and valuing their input, leaders can establish a culture of trust, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Overcoming Struggles with Asking Questions
The podcast episode addresses why many leaders struggle with asking questions. It highlights the misconception that leading with questions requires extensive knowledge or expertise, which can deter leaders from adopting this approach. However, the episode emphasizes that leading with questions is simple and doesn't require complex skills. It encourages leaders to ask simple questions like 'What do you think?' and 'What else?' to engage their team members and unlock their valuable insights. By embracing a questioning mindset and genuinely valuing input, leaders can overcome their hesitations and reap the rewards of leading with questions.
Easily the highlight of my career was the 13+ years I spent with WAY-FM Media Group from 2000 to 2013. My time there included having Dusty Rhodes as a colleague. Dusty recently reached out and introduced me to author Bob Tiede. Bob is the man behind the blog Leading With Questions, inspired by the book […]