Asking questions is one of the key disciplines for a coach. Posing questions instead of dispensing answers is a tangible way of honoring a person’s capacity to run their own life. It’s saying, “God gave you the gift of your life, and I believe you can steward it well.” Coaches ask because they expect you to be able to arrive at a great answer—probably a better answer than the coach could give. Asking questions is an unmistakable way of saying, “I believe in your capacity and your ability!”
By contrast, when I “tell” instead of ask, the message I am sending is, “You aren’t an adult. You aren’t capable of living your life without my help.” As it goes in the classic song, “You need someone older and wiser telling you what to do.” Often in our eagerness to help we end up actually sapping people’s confidence by sending the message that they aren’t capable of doing the job. When we treat people as less than what God made them to be, they tend to live down to our low expectations.
The more I ask the more convinced I am of the power of asking. When I discipline myself to ask, I embolden my clients and honor their abilities. As their confidence grows, their ability and their performance grows with it. At a recent speaking engagement, one of the leaders in the congregation I was addressing shared his own coaching experience with his church. He stated, “I have grown more in the last year and a half than in my previous 14 years combined, I believe in large part due to my involvement in [coaching].” He felt that what was most transformational for him was reflecting on the questions he was asked.
I’ve never gotten those kinds of results by giving advice! The more I ask, the more I see the potential and the destiny I’ve believed in become reality—and the more I grow in my capacity to believe in people.
Tony Stoltzfus is an author, leadership coach and master coach trainer. Additional information on the role of questions in the coaching relationship can be found in Tony’s book, Leadership Coaching.
Which of your friends would thank you for forwarding this post to them?
Guest Post by Howard Pitler It’s that time again – time to think about that very first day of school and...
EXCERPTED WITH PERMISSION FROM CHAPTER 24 OF “THE ART OF PEOPLE – 11 SIMPLE PEOPLE SKILLS THAT WILL GET...
Excerpted from Chapter 16 of “Now That’s A Great Question.” In the 50’s the...
Guest Post by Marcel Schwantes “These would have been laughable to me when I was 25, but as I get...
Guest Post by Sandy Chernoff Many leaders hesitate to ask questions because they fear it might make them...
Note from Bob: I was recently privileged to be Mark P. Fisher’s Guest for two episodes on his...
Guest Post by Ken Downer How can asking questions be more powerful than answering them? In the effort to...