On BusinessWeek.com, Gary B. Cohen offers advice to leaders on asking the right questions.
Cohen insists: "Leaders need to take their ego out of the equation and focus on being facilitators, not oracles. They should start asking questions they don't know the answers to. What follows are some pointers on how to make this work."
The author says that leaders should challenge their certainty, as beliefs and assumptions shouldn't always be trusted as they can be skewed by personal biases.
"Once you learn to distrust yourself, it's easier to trust others," explains Cohen. "The goal isn't to locate the most trustworthy or least fallible individual and hand all decision-making to this person; the goal is to share the load and get everyone to feel ownership in the organisation's direction and operations."
'Just ask leadership' is difficult to master, however, and it can take time for leaders to get out of the habit of asking leading questions. But when this style of leadership is executed properly, Cohen says the questions will be "heartfelt invitations to contribute and collaborate".
The questions fall into one of four categories:
* Perspective questions to broaden horizons and explore possibilities
* Evaluative questions to form conclusions, prioritise actions and create alignment
* Action questions to motivate others, generate experience and build accountability
* Knowledge questions to interpret information and reach consensus about the effect of past actions
Cohen concludes: "The right questions rely on the leader's ability to communicate authentic interest in learning the answer. They come from a place of not knowing. The right questions are open-ended, carry the possibility of true discovery, and demonstrate a willingness to share and bestow credit."
Leadership: How to Ask the Right Questions
Gary B. Cohen, BusinessWeek.com, 29/09/09
