Good
Leaders Ask Good Questions
by
Francine R. Gaillour, MD, MBA, FACPE
In
the past month, the topic of "asking good questions" as a
way of demonstrating good leadership has come up in several client
situations. I thought I would rerun a popular article from our
Daring Doctors archives that describes how to ask good open-ended
questions of your team.
Leaders
Create Dialogue for Problem Solving
As a leader or
manager, effective dialogue is key to helping your subordinates
or team members solve problems and move forward. Dialogue, which can be
translated from its Greek roots as “meaning flowing through”, is the
respectful, two-way, open-ended flow of communication that balances
listening and speaking for the purpose of learning. High-performing organizations are those whose teams developed
deep personal bonds among colleagues.
These relationships form the context for achieving high
performance. Other forms of
communication—debate, directing, discussing—may influence or control
people, but compliance is often the best result, not productivity or
effectiveness.
As
a leader, use effective questions to create dialogue, and
therefore to accomplish mutual goals for you and your
organization. Effective
questions are open-ended; for example:
- What
do you think about this idea?
- What
do you think is important?
- How
would you solve this?
- If
you were in my shoes, what would you do?
- What
other factors should we be considering?
- In
your opinion, why is this approach going to work?
- What
do you see as the obstacles we face?
When
working with your team as a group, or in one-on-one situations,
open-ended questions require respondents to share their thinking and
their ideas. Problem-solving questions should flow from the global to
the specific:
Global:
- How
are things going?
- What
are you goals?
- What
are you trying to accomplish?
Problem
Identification:
- What
results have you achieved so far?
- Where
are you stuck?
- What
kinds of problems are you encountering?
Options
& Solutions:
- What
solutions have you attempted?
- What
do you see as your options?
- Do
you want input from me?
Planning:
- What
is your “go forward” plan?
- How
can you apply what you’ve learned to your job?
- Who
else would benefit from knowing this?
Support:
- What
can I do to better support you?
- Whose
support do you need?
- Would
it be helpful to talk again?
Performance
management is a significant business issue for leaders in every
industry. The questions and
dialogue skills outlined here are from author and coach, Thomas G. Crane, in his
book “The
Heart of Coaching: Using
Transformational Coaching to Create a High-Performance Culture.”
I highly recommend the book.
Are
you wondering how well you lead your team by asking, rather
than telling? Contact
me to arrange a complimentary coaching session on this
topic. We can quickly assess how you're doing and how you can
improve.
Francine
R. Gaillour, MD, MBA, FACPE is an executive coach and business
consultant. She is president of The Gaillour Group and director
of Creative Strategies in Physician Leadership. Dr. Gaillour is
a professional speaker on healthcare leadership, cultural change
and physician career development.
She
can be reached at (888) 562-7289 or francine@physicianleadership.com
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