Great leaders ask great questions. Great leaders ask questions to learn but also to encourage those they lead to think strategically. Below are six questions leaders should be asking those they lead. They may not show up in a meeting agenda or on a questionnaire, but wise leaders are continually asking those they lead these types of questions.
1. Do you have what you need from me?
Great leaders seek to ensure that those they lead have the necessary resources for their roles. They also work hard to remove obstacles, organizational bureaucracy, and barriers that slow them down.
2. Are you growing?
People who want to grow and develop will enjoy working for leaders who help them grow. Caring about your team’s development is the first step in ensuring they are developing.
3. What is the greatest opportunity?
This is a different question than “What is your biggest problem?” Helping your team focus the majority of their best energy on their greatest opportunities and not their greatest problems is wise stewardship. Focusing on great opportunities is better than focusing on great problems.
4. How is our strategy impacting your work?
Strategy is how a team accomplishes the mission. The mission is the what; the strategy is the how and the now. If the strategy is not impacting work, then the activity is not aligned to the mission and strategy. Without this question, energy and resources may be leveraged in directions contrary to the strategy.
5. How are our values driving your work?
The culture of a ministry or organization is the shared values that drive behavior. Without this question, values can easily become words on a wall and not values that impact how the team decides, executes, and serves alongside one another.
6. Whom are you developing?
Leaders are responsible for future leaders. For there to be a sustaining culture of leadership development, people must be talking regularly about whom they are developing for the future.
