Leadership

How to find right solutions?

Who am I?

I am supposed to be bold, decisive, charismatic and visionary. If someone knocks on my door with a problem, I am expected to provide solutions. Solving other people’s problems is exhausting, but I am expected to do it anyway. I was always discouraged to ask questions; and even today I am expected not to ask any questions. You see me as lacking competence if I do not have the answers you seek. Who am I?

Ah, a leader!

If you have guessed – a business leader, you are absolutely right. Are you are a small business leader who feels you should know the answers to all your organizational problems? Having a leadership position does not mean you have all the answers. Over the last couple of years, I have reinforced my belief that much of my success can be attributed to the fact that I believed in the competencies of my team members. Don’t even try to know it all. It is impossible.

Questioning culture

Do you have a questioning culture in your organization? Or do you snap at people who ask questions? Leading with answers is a thing of the past. You need to lead with questions. In fact, if you are leading with answers, you are way behind with current times. There is too much information that impacts your business. With the speed at which the business landscape is changing you just will not have all the information you need to make the right decisions. Or worse, you will end up reaching the wrong conclusions and make wrong decisions. Mike Myatt at N2 Growth has written this excellent post View from the top. He talks about CEOs who are totally disconnected from reality.

So how do you cope with these changes? Ask the right questions. As a leader you need to create an organizational culture that encourages asking questions without fear of sounding stupid. You need to create an environment where employees are able to trust each other and are comfortable asking questions. (See post on corporate culture and strategy implementation)

It is quite easy to become lethargic in the organization’s accumulated knowledge and established procedures. As a leader, you must question assumptions – about strategies, tactics, values, business processes, in fact, anything that helps shapes the organization.

How to manage by asking

Asking questions is an art. The timing should be right. The tone must be right too. Your tone must encourage a discussion and not like you are questioning their ability. Some of the questions that I have found useful are:

• What would you do?
  If an employee comes to you with a problem and you ask this question, you put the ball back into their court. It forces them to think.

• Can we do a PMI?
  Plus/Minus/Interesting – an awesome thinking tool by de Bono. I swear by it.

I usually look inward when things do not go as planned:

• Was I clear in communicating the goals and objectives?

• Was sufficient training provided to get the job done properly?

• Was I able to give the time and resources needed to get the job done?

It is important to remember that the objective of asking questions is to start a dialogue and not to prove anyone wrong. More importantly, encourage your employees to ask questions.

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