Celebrating the 7th Anniversary of LeadingWithQuestions.com

Join us this week as we celebrate the 7th Anniversary of LeadingWithQuestions.com

You are the reason for this blog!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart  for your commitment to increase your leadership effectiveness x10 by moving from a Leader who “Leads by Telling” to being a Leader who  “Leads With Questions!”  Not only are you benefiting – your staff are benefiting by being much better led and by seeing effective leadership modeled by you!

To mark the Celebration, today is the release of my new free eBook “Now That’s a Great Question!” You can request your free download by clicking “HERE!”

If there was something you could do to increase the Leadership Effectiveness of all those in the shadow of your influence both at work and at home would you do it?

If so, then today is their lucky day!

You are invited to join the “Now That’s a Great Question Launch Team!”  As a “Launch Team Member” you will receive “Shareable Copy” that you can post and email that positions the opportunity to download the “Now That’s a Great Question” eBook as a gift from you.

It’s a Win/Win!

Your Friends Will Win by increasing their leadership effectiveness x 10 both at work and at home as they move from leading by telling to leading with questions!

You Win!  Because it’s coming from you – you will be the one they will be thanking for gifting them with this great new resource,  helping them grow as leaders at work and at home!  And you will be the beneficiary of a deepening relationship with all those in the shadow of your influence!

Please click “HERE” to join the “Launch Team!”  Then be looking for our emails with your shareable social media and email copy that you will be able to simply “Copy – Paste – Post/Email.”

Special Bonus:  in appreciation of all “Launch Team Members” who commit to sharing on social media and to emailing a minimum of 200 of their colleagues/friends/clients/prospects we will send you the printed version of “Now That’s a Great Question.”  The printed version is not available for sale – only for “Launch Team Members!”  (Offer to send the printed version is available for U.S.A. Addresses only)

As part of our 7th Anniversary Celebration this week we will be sharing 5 excerpts – one each day – from “Now That’s a Great Question”  – starting today with Chapter One:

I thought the job of a leader was to be directive – i.e. to tell his/her staff what to do.  I loved my staff! I wanted the very best for them. I wanted to do everything I could to help them win.

My strategy for their development as leaders was for them to hang around me. I frequently said, “A lot more is caught than taught! If you just hang around me you will learn a lot!”

My strategy for helping them to succeed was to let them benefit from everything I knew that would help them climb the mountain successfully.

When they came to me with a problem, I gave them step-by-step instructions on how to solve it.  When they came to me with an idea, I applauded them for their idea and then shared with them two or more things that would add horsepower to their plan.

When I asked them to take on a new project—if they said “Yes!”—I asked them to pull out a legal pad and I gave them step-by-step instructions on how to do it.

And when one of my staff left my office, I smiled with the thought that they were walking away so impressed with my wisdom, and so appreciative that I had given them the perfect road map to success.
I was absolutely clueless about how my “over-helpfulness” was actually making them feel.

Several years ago at the Global Leadership Summit, put on by the Willow Creek Association, I saw that one of the speakers was Liz Wiseman, speaking on:

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter   – the same title as her book.

I thought, “This is going to be great session—because she will be talking about Leaders like me!”

But I was in for a BIG SURPRISE.

Liz started by talking about “Diminishers.” And I soon realized she was talking about me! The more she shared, the lower I sank in my chair. What I had thought were “Multiplier” traits were actually “Diminisher” traits.

When you bring a “Diminisher” a problem, they not only solve it for you, but they think you will be really impressed with their wisdom and grateful for their help. But when you bring a “Multiplier” a problem, they ask you, “What do you think the solution might be?” They let you solve your own problem.

When you bring a “Diminisher” an idea, they tell you what would make your idea even better. They believe you will go away thinking, “Wow! I am so glad I asked. Those additional ideas will really improve my plan!” They do not realize that you will go away thinking, “Nothing I ever bring him/her is good enough!” But when you bring a “Multiplier” your idea they say, “Wow! Great Idea! Tell
me more!”

When a “Diminisher” asks you to take on a new project they will most often say, “Will you help me with my project?” They want to give you responsibility but no authority, and then tell you exactly how they want you to execute their project, step-by-step.

When a “Multiplier” asks you to take on a new project, they share that they have a “Leadership Development-Rich Opportunity” for you. They invite you to take on this new assignment. If you accept,
they make you the Project Director—giving you authority with responsibility. They ask you to do “Draft One” of the strategic plan to successfully execute the project. They will ask you to let them know what resources you will need to succeed and how they can help you.

THREE QUOTES:

“The leader of the past may have been a person who knew how to tell, but certainly the leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.”
— Dr. Peter Drucker

“When you give advice, the brain is basically asleep. If you engage them and ask questions that help them come to their own insights, it comes alive.”
— Dr. Henry Cloud

“An effective leader will ask questions instead of giving direct orders.”
— Dale Carnegie

Today, I am a recovering “Diminisher”. The temptation to “Tell” is ever present, but by an act of my will I now seek to be a  “Multiplier” by choosing to “Ask” instead of “Tell”!

• When a staff member comes to me with a problem I ask him/ her, “What do you think the solution might be?”
• When a staff member comes to me with an idea, I say, “Wow! Great Idea! Tell me more!”
• When I ask a staff member to take on a new project, I share that I have a “Leadership Development-Rich
  Opportunity” for them to consider. I state that I would like them to consider becoming the “(Name of project) Director.” If they agree, I ask them to draft the “Strategic Plan.”

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You have just read Chapter 1 of 30 chapters!   Please click“HERE”to request your free “Now That’s a Great Question” eBook so that you can read the other 29 Chapters.

You can help your colleagues, clients, prospects, friends and family increase their Leadership Effectiveness both at work and at home by gifting them with the opportunity to request their free download of “Now That’s a Great Question” when you click “HERE” to join the “Launch Team!”