Most leaders are expected to have answers. People come to us with problems, decisions that need to be made, and situations that need direction. Over time it becomes easy to believe that leadership means being the person in the room who knows what to do.
Experience has taught me something different. Some of the best leadership begins not with an answer, but with a question.
A good question slows things down just enough to make us think. What are we actually trying to accomplish? What problem are we really solving? What are we assuming that may not be true? What happens if we do nothing?
And perhaps one of the most valuable questions a leader can ask: what am I missing?
There is a certain confidence required to ask that question. Early in our careers many of us feel pressure to demonstrate what we know. Experience gradually teaches us the limits of that approach. The more complicated the organization, the more likely it is that no single person has the complete picture.
The people closest to the work often see things senior leaders cannot. Customers know things the sales report doesn’t tell us. Employees know where processes break down. Frontline supervisors know which procedures work on paper but fail in practice.
The leader’s job isn’t simply to provide answers to all of those people. It is to create an environment where the right questions can be asked, and where people feel safe enough to answer them honestly.
The question determines the answer
Consider a struggling operation. One approach is to walk in and ask, “Why aren’t we hitting the numbers?” Everyone immediately feels the pressure of the question.
A different approach might be: “What’s getting in the way of doing excellent work?”
Now the conversation changes. You may discover a broken process, conflicting priorities, inadequate training, poor communication, or a decision made three levels above the people actually doing the work.
The quality of the question often determines the quality of the information we receive.
This applies well beyond business. It applies to careers, relationships, personal decisions, and almost anything else that matters. We spend enormous amounts of energy looking for better answers when sometimes the real breakthrough comes from reconsidering the question.
I’ve become increasingly comfortable saying, “I don’t know. Let’s think about it.” That isn’t an abdication of leadership. Quite often, it is leadership.
Because the objective isn’t to be the smartest person in the room. The objective is to help the room become smarter. And sometimes the most powerful contribution a leader can make is simply asking the question nobody else thought to ask.