Leadership Moments 2/2011

Leaders are effective communicators 

if they ask good questions!

Because…

You are as good a leader as the questions you ask of your people everyday. All your learning and effectiveness as a leader are in the questions you ask yourself and the people around you everyday.

Sharing…

In my 15-year career in a uniformed organisation, I’ve learnt that (as a leader) if you are communicating all the time without listening and asking questions, you would definitely miss out on important perspectives. You can be very efficient in your communication (e.g. talking, pointing, directing, giving orders/instructions and telling, etc), but not necessary effective. 

I’ve learnt that the questions I ask are as important as the answers I give. I’ve learnt that is it impossible to have great answers for the people I lead if I don’t have great questions. Great questions are key foundation to great answers. I am only as good a leader as the questions I ask.

Some questions I like to ask my people…

- What’s your passion? What excites you?

- Jimmy wants to be a good leader, what can I do better? (FeedForward)

- What are your key learning points from this incident/experience?

Some questions I like to ask myself…

- How have I contributed to this? (Especially when things go wrong)

- What must I change to become better as a leader?

- What did I learn today about others and myself?

Yes, leadership is difficult! It’s a tough job if you want to perform well. Very often, you will feel like quitting. It’s so much easier if you just become a follower with no responsibility, sitting back and relax!

Ask the right questions, leadership will be a great self-discovery journey.

Ask the wrong questions, leadership will be a painful process.

So?

What will you be asking yourself about your leadership today?

What are the key questions you would ask your people in order to lead them better?

What are you responsible for when things go wrong?

Please share with me your thinking or comments...

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Why Am I doing this?

Leadership is a journey for me. I was exposed to various leadership roles at a very young age when I joined the uniformed group during my secondary school days. Over the years, I’ve learnt quite a bit about leadership from reading, observations and experimentation.

As the saying goes, nothing beats doing it! My career in a uniformed organisation for the past 15 years provided me with ample opportunities to hone my leadership skills. I am very thankful that my organisation has a very strong culture of leadership. My organisation pays attention to develop people, they tolerate mistakes and they genuinely cares. Much of my learning and reflections on leadership are from the excellent leaders I have worked with over the years. These wonderful leaders shape the leader I am today.

Leadership is something that is learned. No one is born a leader. We are all capable of being a good leader. Of course, not everyone can be the top leader. However, everyone does have the capacity to lead in some way—but ACTION is required! While all of us are born with many different abilities, but if we do not harness and develop them, those abilities will never come to fruition. Leadership is one such ability.

I hope to share some of my learning and experiences on leadership in bite size in my blog. I hope “Leadership Moments” will help you in your journey towards becoming a great leader in your own right. Remember, knowing is not good enough, you have to take ACTION if you want your leadership potential and abilities to be developed.

All the best in your leadership journey.

Jim

L