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What’s Your Question to Statement Ratio?

“As you move up the corporate ladder,” Tom Wilson, Allstate’s Chairman, President and CEO, advises, “your question to statement ratio should also go up.”

Let’s frame that in the form of a question: When developing the next cadre of leadership for your organization, is it more effective to tell them how to lead the organization or ask them where they believe the organization should go?

In “Real Leaders Ask,” published in the February 2009 issue of the (now defunct) Harvard Management Update, Judith A. Ross takes the concept of the question to statement ratio to the next level. The article reads, “Always providing solutions when employees come to you with problems impedes their development—and robs your organization of their fresh ideas.”

Asking questions is as much an art as giving answers. It’s not about closed-end questions or cross-examination. Proper questioning opens the organization to ideas from new sources and helps bring a common understanding to the issues being faced.

According to Ross, some of the benefits of asking the right kind of questions are as follows:

• Improves clarity
• Constructs better working relations
• Helps people think analytically and critically
• Inspires people to reflect and see things in fresh, unpredictable ways
• Encourages breakthrough thinking
• Challenges assumptions
• Creates ownership of solutions
• Empowers the team

Too many leaders believe that questioning is a sign of weakness or a waste of time. They prefer to dictate direction and believe it is a sign of strength.

If you accept that one of your main roles as a leader is developing your team, questioning and listening can result in the growth of your team, a realization of the benefits listed above, and an increase in the faith your team members place in your leadership skills.

Some questions to consider:

• How many times have you finished a meeting, only to find that not everyone in the room had the same understanding of the problem? What questions do you need to ask at the beginning, middle and end of a meeting to get everyone on the same page regarding the problem
• When conducting performance reviews, are you just listing accomplishments or are you probing to find the factors that supported successes and led to failures? Have you created an environment where your team is comfortable honestly assessing both of these outcomes?
• Does your team understand that it’s OK for them to ask probing questions, even when they don’t have the answers? Are you comfortable asking these questions even when you don’t always have the answers?
• Is your questioning environment supportive rather than fault-finding? Do you explore failed initiatives not to assign blame, but to find ways to improve the odds of success next time?

One question remains: Do you fully understand that developing the culture begins with your own willingness to ask questions instead of dictating directions?

While there are no guarantees for success, building a truly questioning culture should improve your odds.

 

This publication is part of Blackman Kallick’s marketing of professional services, and is not written tax advice directed at the specific facts and circumstances of any person and/or entity. Contents of this publication are of a general nature, and you should not act on this information without obtaining professional advice from your business advisor that is appropriately tailored to your individual needs and circumstances. This written advice is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code.