If you wish to become a great leader, you should be ready to use any possible strategy to inspire your team. And one of the things that any new leader might be considering is to lead with answers. For example, tell your staff what they are expected to do so they will know their goals and what the company wishes to achieve.
Despite the fact that leading with answers can be the correct approach in many situations, giving pre-packaged answers to your team is not always the best way to lead on several occasions.
Sometimes, you should choose to lead with questions instead. And here are four reasons why that’s a great idea:
1 . You Will Increase Engagement
If you ask questions to your team, it will make them feel like they are part of a community. They will believe that their ideas are worthwhile and that they are an essential player.
Leading simply with answers may make them feel like factory workers contracted just to press buttons and make machines work.
Bear in mind that you don’t need to start with complex questions. You might just ask simple things, such as who their clients are, what they are planning to do next, and what they think the results will be if they manage to do what they want. It will sound less intimidating, and you will get more reliable answers for sure.
2. You Will Receive Interesting Ideas
Even if your team may not have all the right skills, you never know when you will come across a brilliant idea. Many breakthroughs have been discovered completely by chance, so rest assured that it will never be a waste of time to ask your team for ideas and feedback.
Just make sure that you create the right environment and that you build a trusted relationship with them. This way, they can take their time to express themselves.
This is especially important if they aren’t used to being asked about anything, so they don’t feel as if they are under pressure or in the middle of an interrogation.
3. It Will Improve Your Team’s Learning Process
When you ask people questions, you make their minds start working in search of answers or solutions for a given problem. On the other hand, when you just give them everything they need to know, they become simple receptors.
If you want to ensure that you can count on them to achieve more complex tasks in the future, you should start to cultivate their learning process by making them think and deal with challenging situations.
4. Your Team Will Feel More Comfortable Around You
Asking questions can make your team feel like a valuable asset to the company because you care about their opinions.
Don’t limit yourself to asking them about new strategies, and don’t question them about describing your leadership skills. Asking anything from how their day is going to if they are in need of anything new; you should come off as approachable and friendly and show yourself as someone who is ready to listen and interested in their well-being.
Conclusion
Collaboration certainly is a business trend. The days when all you had to do at work was keep your mouth shut and obey are long gone in most companies.
This is because leaders have noticed the results achieved by companies that have valued this kind of approach, where you ask more than you answer.
So bring the idea of leading with questions to your company as well and see how it works out. If you haven’t done it before, start it gradually and evaluate the process. Find the way that works best for your team. Regardless, this is definitely a leadership strategy that you should consider, like your best friend, from this point forward.
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How Do You Lead With Questions?
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