Dear Reader:

This came to me via another coach in GA and I had to pass it onto you.

If there was one strategy you could implement that would make you a more effective leader, what would that be?

I attended a symposium a decade and a half ago where Bill Gates addressed that very question.
His reply came as a revelation to me.

"I am not paid to know, I am paid to ask."

According to Gates, asking the right question is far more valuable than having the right answer.  In building my business and supporting clients in developing their own, I have come to see the enormous value from asking effective questions.
Why the emphasis on asking questions?

Great questions enable people to discover for themselves instead of being told.

Great questions tickle a part of our brain that is ripe with new possibilities. When asked insightful, probing questions, I have observed people brighten. They start thinking.

Great questions relieve the pressure from business owners and managers who believe their job is to know everything.

Great questions are a gateway to effective dialogue.

Great questions can be an important element in developing a culture of teamwork and collaboration.

Great questions focus attention on producing results, not on fixing people.

Great questions are inclusive. They encourage participation and contribution from every area of a business.

Guidelines for asking great questions...

• Ask questions with the intent to explore and discover. Do not ask questions to control and dominate. The people you ask will know the difference.

• When a response is given, listen. Really listen. Be aware of your body language and make eye contact.

• Never berate or belittle an honest effort to respond to your query. Suspend judgment of any answer. If the response does not make sense, ask another question. "What do you mean by that?" or, "I don't understand, can you clarify that for me?"

• "I don't know" is a legitimate response. Make 'not knowing' OK and you may open a wellspring of suppressed creativity in you and your staff.

While we are asking questions, why not forward this Monday Morning Business Gem to a friend or colleague whom you believe would find it useful?
Warmest regards,

Dennis DuRoff

on behalf of Gilbert Nieuwenhuis - ActionCOACH Business Coaching - (770) 757-5165 - www.actioncoach.com/gnieuwenhuis