Creating the opportunities for your team to stand out is something that every leader should be doing more intentionally. Yesterday’s post talked about the power of a leader saying “I don’t know” to allow the team to come up with solutions. The power that the leader has when they say something drives the direction of the team and it is more powerful than many leaders realize. What if you were just thinking out loud about a situation? What if you were just making a suggestion and not a final decision? If someone takes that as a final decision and not just a suggestion, it can cause major confusion and impacts to the work that people are doing.
When leaders state their opinion or ideas first, it also tends to steer the group in that direction. What if that isn’t the best approach, but no one will say anything to contradict their leader’s idea? It can shut down any other possible solutions from being brought up. What if you asked a few open ended questions instead of directing the team? Think of the questions as a way for you to draw out more information that the group can share their ideas. They can get visibility on what they are doing, recommendations that they have or solutions that they are implementing. Here are some examples of some questions that you can use:
- What approach are you taking?
- What alternatives were considered?
- What decisions still need to be made?
- What is your experience telling you?
- How does this align with our strategy?
- What does success look like?
- How does this compare to what the industry is doing?
- What is the feedback from your clients?
This is not an all-inclusive list, but you get the idea of how to approach the conversation. Asking these questions helps them share information in a group setting in front of key stakeholders and learn what management wants to know about. It is also an opportunity for them to start learning how to succinctly respond to questions in these type of situations where they have to think on their feet. They will learn from your example and be prepared as they take on future roles where they are the ones asking the questions.