The Best Leaders Ask Questions – They Don’t Just Provide Answers

Leaders are often tempted to control their organizations by managing every detail and answering every question. After all, as a leader they are primarily responsible for the success or failure of their organization right?

Wrong.

Leadership isn’t being the smartest person in the organization or the one with all the answers. Leadership is the ability to get all the people in your organization to strive to achieve a single purpose, the mission of the organization.

Great leaders lead by getting their employees to figure out the answers to key questions on their own. They accomplish this not by giving their employees the “right” answers, but by asking the right questions so their employees come up with the “right” answers on their own.

Great leaders ask questions like, “What do yo think of this”, “How do you think we should handle this situation”, “If this was your decision to make, what would you do”, “How will this decision impact our ability to accomplish our mission”?

Check out this blog for more thoughts on why leaders should ask questions, not give answers.

What do you think about this approach to leadership?