Top 20 Questions Leaders Need to Ask As We Head to 2020

You have probably heard that its the quality of the questions that determine the quality of a leader.

In my coaching and consulting of CEO’s and senior leaders we will often work together to discover that the solution to a specific situation is always found in asking new and different questions.

For example I had a leader ask me, “Why does this employee always do this?? and this question was making him crazy. When I prompted him to think of a better question that would yield a different answer he came up with,

“What have I done as a leader that has caused this employee to think they can continue to repeat their behavior?”

By asking that question he was able to move from what I call level one awareness and shift into level three (see blog post on the four levels of leadership awareness)

From there we were able to work together to create an action plan to positively deal with the ‘problem’ employee.

Below are twenty questions leaders can ask today to help lead better now and in the future. It’s what you do with the answers that will make the difference.

Top 20 Questions Leaders Need to Ask to Lead with 2020 Vision

1. What is my vision? For me? For my team? For the company?
2. Do I consistently lead from my vision?
3. Do I consistently communicate the vision?
4. Am I flexible and willing to adapt to the changes happening in regards to workers attitudes?
5. As a leader of change am I sharing the positive outcomes of ongoing change?
6. On a scale of one to ten how would I rate myself on creativity?
7. Do I encourage my team and reward them for creative ideas?
8. Do I ‘push back’ on ideas, situations or people that don’t fit within my framework?
9. On a scale of one to ten how would I rate myself as being a lifelong learner?
10. Do I inspire my colleagues and teams to be consistently learning and growing?
11. Who on my team could I groom for greater success and recognition?
12. Do I spend time focusing on the 90% who are doing great things?
13. As a leader how can I improve the performance discussions with my team?
14. Am I an influencer when it comes to continually increasing my knowledge of technology and its impact on our work?
15. Do I model health, wellness and balance to my team?
16.  If a team is a direct reflection of a leader do I like what I see? Why not? What needs to change or improve?
17. Do I lead from my primary two leadership styles?
18.  If my team were asked to rate me as a leader what would they give me as a rating with one being poor leadership and ten being exceptional leadership?
19.  Are my decisions based on what’s best for the team?
20.  What can I do when I leave this conference to be a better leader?