“Eric Herrenkohl is in the top tier of speakers who have addressed the CEO members of my Vistage Groups.”
I Know the Answer. What’s the Question?
I was once in a meeting where everyone knew one well. We were all having a good time, talking and joking around. The leader of the group, trying to get the meeting on track, asked a question. One woman was in the middle of a conversation and was only half listening immediately yelled out “I know the answer!” And then, realizing she had not heard what was asked, yelled out again: “What’s the question?”
Everyone in the meeting cracked up – in this setting, it was a funny slip among friends. However, the proclivity to want to provide answers without first understanding the question is much less amusing from managers and leaders in organizations. We know that our credibility rests in part on our knowledge and experience. People look to us for answers. But we maximize our impact as leaders when we not only provide them with answers, but help them to figure out answers for themselves by asking them good questions.
People want to benefit from our knowledge. But they both want and need to figure things out for themselves. If you ask people good questions, without trying to dictate all the answers, you help them to think for themselves. This makes both the individuals and the organization better.
Performance Principle: A good question is often worth more than a good answer. Insecure people parade their knowledge. Secure people use their experience to help people arrive at the right answers by themselves.
Questions to Consider:
- Is your own self-importance tied up in knowing all the answers?
- How often do you know the answer to a question but allow other people to figure it out for themselves?
- Ask five people you can trust to be honest to rate your listening skills from 1-5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best? Anything less than a score of 4 tells you that you are a bad listener.
