My mom always said: “You have 2 ears, and 1 mouth for a reason… Why? Because you should listen, twice as much as you talk…” That adage is something that has stuck with me throughout my life.
As leaders of our businesses, we are expected to have all (or at least most) of the answers, but often times we are so quick to provide one, even when we don’t fully understand what the question is.
To this point, I recently came across a statement that has been rolling around in my head ever since (and is further shaping the way I interface with clients and members of my team):
The quality of answers you receive from others is directly related to the quality of the questions you ask.
Sounds simple enough, but as I look back at all of the interactions I have in a given week – I’ve come up with more than a few instances where asking a “better” question would have yielded a better answer, faster.
But how do you ask “better” questions?
Zoom out.
Think about what you are needing to solve with the information you have in front of you, but also zoom out 1 or 2 levels to get to the “30,000 foot” view. For me, that’s often where the magic of the solution resides and the path forward feels even more solid. Here’s to some super productive conversations today!
