TWO QUESTIONS TO USE RIGHT NOW!
In my last article I stated that asking the right questions in the right way is the basis for your future business success. This article provides you with two powerful questions that you can use right now.
Business leaders become more creative about kinds of questions to ask by using observation and curiosity. Of course, there are questions that are most useful and unique to the sales process, the strategy development process, and the project management process.
With experience, leaders learn how to ask the right question, at the right time, in the right way, for the right reason.
There are two questions that are usable across industries for most strategies and projects. First:
Regarding this project, what will give you the best payback as a person, as a leader, and for your customers?
I ask leaders to answer this question in a simple declarative sentence. i.e., By___ (a precise date), I will improve my communication skills with my customers and my direct reports.
Second, I ask them,
How will you know when you have success?
In answering this question, I encourage leaders to be precise about either of two kinds of results that I can see.
- For example, it can be that they conduct a particular workshop. In other words, they do the deed. That is an example of a quantitative result.
- An example of a qualitative result can be that the people that attended the workshop learn a skill and are now able to implement that skill at work that results in greater efficiency or higher quality.
Successful leaders know that it is not what you plan but what you execute that counts. The right questions, asked in the right way, start the engine that makes that happen.
QUESTION
What questions will give you the best payback as a person, as a leader, and for your customers?
Chuck Scharenberg is the Founder of More Profit More Freedom, a consultancy that supports the execution of large-scale growth for small businesses. His practice has successfully grown businesses with processes that identify potential roadblocks and mitigation schemes to accelerate realistic execution.