Your Foundation for Successful Leadership
The book starts by saying that if you want to be successful and reach your leadership potential, you need to embrace asking questions as a lifestyle. Why? Because you only get answers to the questions you ask - and the quality of the questions you ask determines the quality of the answers you receive.
Sometimes people avoid asking questions because they fear looking foolish or being perceived as ignorant. Maxwell responds to this by saying that it's important to overcome ego and risk looking bad, and quotes Richard Thalheimer who said, "it is better to look uninformed than to be uninformed".
The book is divided into two parts: the first is about the questions great leaders ask others and the second about questions they ask themselves.
Questions are the most effective way of connecting with others, cultivate humility and stimulate new ideas. Profound questions elicit profound answers. Maxwell offers these as some examples of great leadership questions to ask others:
- Why do we have this problem? What steps should we take to resolve it?
- What are you learning?
- What do I need to communicate?
- How can I serve you better?
- What am I missing?
- How are we adding value? How can we add more value?
- Are you reaching your maximum potential? Would you like to do better?
- What would it take to dream more and be more?
- Questions leaders should ask themselves
Maxwell recognises that asking oneself questions is a great way to avoid laziness and to get out of mental ruts. Some self-questions he suggests include:
- Am I investing in myself enough?
- Am I genuinely interested in others?
- Am I grounded as a leader? Where is my ego getting in the way?
- Am I staying in my strength zone?
- Where am I being restricted by fear?
- What must I do to lead myself successfully?
- How can I develop new leaders?
Where have I settled for mediocrity and how can I raise the bar?"The ability to ask the right question is more than half the battle of finding the answer."
Thomas Watson (founder of IBM)