SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 190,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: How comfortable are you asking questions you don’t know the answers to?
- Very — I have no problem asking questions about any topic: 84.4%
- Somewhat — I don’t do it very often: 13.42%
- Not very — I tend to only ask questions I know the answer to: 1.34%
- Not at all — I avoid asking questions as much as possible: .84%
Questions lead to insight. Early in our careers, we’re trained to always have the answer. As we assume larger leadership roles, it is imperative that we lead the thinking rather than leading the work. Doing so effectively requires you to ask the questions you don’t know the answers to. In so doing, you can take the team beyond their current understanding of the world and lead them to explore new ideas, new opportunities, and new risks.
Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS and author of “One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership.”