Good Leaders Ask Great Questions
Hey, I am Dr. Tom Miller and I have a really big idea and an important book that I wanted to share with you today.
I believe that good leaders ask great questions.
Roddy Galbraith, the world's best speaker trainer and coach (who also happens to be my mentor) wrote a great personal growth book titled Go Out and Make a Mess that helps anyone who is feeling stuck or suffers from procrastination due to a desire to be perfect.
During these times of unchartered territory, we are all being stretched personally and professionally and might be questioning what their future may look like.
Roddy's questions forced me to take a deeper look personally and professionally. They raised my awareness and brought key answers to questions at one time I wasn't comfortable asking or answering.
You see, your success will be determined by the questions you are willing to ask and willing to answer.
Questions can connect people. Enhance collaboration with team members, build and grow ideas, and develop personal leadership.
Questions give us a different perspective.
By asking questions and listening carefully to the answers, we can begin to understand valuable perspectives other than our own. This is critical because we can often make faulty assumptions about other people:
- We believe people are good at the same things that we are good at – they are not.
- We believe people are energized by the same things that energize us – they are not.
- We believe people see the big picture in the same way we do – they do not.
I believe that leaders not only lose their people daily, but their own path to success, because they are not asking the right questions or any questions at all.
I do not know about you, but typically, when books ask me reflection or application questions, despite all my good intentions, I hardly ever go back to answer them.
I know that if I want to change and grow I need to be a better follower. So I gave it a go and began journaling on each question.
The one question that made the most impact on me was...
What are the five most things you desire out of life?
After journaling a list of potential answers, these five made the cut!
- To live like a tourist (I want to travel and experience life from all corners of the world with friends and family).
- For my children not to have the burden of student loans (I have over $100,000 in loans. It is nobody’s fault but my own. I have a responsibility to ensure I do not pass this on).
- To have peace of mind and be present when it comes to daily living and family time.
- To have my beautiful wife Jennifer not feel guilty buying new slippers when her old pair gets a hole in them.
- To do something for others, that outlives me, which will provide people with opportunities to achieve their goals and dreams.
I am not exactly sure HOW I am going to accomplish these five desires. But they have given my daily direction and purpose. Some of them will be painful.
Not painful as doing the things that are hard. Painful as in is dropping the attachments, bad habits and self-limiting beliefs in order to do what is necessary.
The first step in achieving anything, I believe, is to painting the picture in your mind of what it is you really truly desire. Roddy's book did that for me.
My challenge to you is to take the next 24 hours to list out the five things that you desire most out of life. Sit with your partner share these items. Meet at least monthly to discuss action steps and your progress towards achieving those goals. Enjoy the process and celebrate each win!
Oh, and if you need some motivation, pick up Roddy's book on Amazon!
Let's study the book and exceed our desires together.
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