This last weekend I had the privilege of facilitating a day away for a local charity. What I love about doing these events is seeing the clarity that comes out for the participants on such days. When the questions and discussion have been used to unearth things and make visible some of the things that have been out of view. Whether you are business owners, a leader in a charity or a team leader, understanding clearly what it is that needs changing is gold.
As a coach and trainer I am all about helping you change things that unlock an organisation’s person’s potential for greater impact and growth. Here is what you need to know – You can’t change what you can’t see. Successful leaders know that in order to change things they need to be visible.
How do you make things visible?
In making things visible you can work a plan to change what is in the way of your business or organisation’s success. In order to make things visible you need to understand what you are unaware of. Awareness is key to maximising your relationships and influence as a leader. This means knowing yourself – self-awareness and becoming aware of how others view their world.
Understanding these things means more effective meetings, better decision-making, more effective communication and therefore clarity on the way forward and ultimately the success of your business or charity. The key to this is to ask questions. The right questions have the potential to move you forward and get the clarity you need to make the right decisions and create a roadmap that gets you to where you want to be.
Questions which Unlock Potential
1. How do you see the world? This question is about knowing yourself – understanding your onboard preferences or tendencies. When you know the things that drive you, what you are likely to do when under stress. The things you will find easy to do, then you can change things that are having a negative impact and do more of those things which move you towards success.
2. How can I better understand those I lead? Misunderstandings in teams occur all the time. It is often down to the assumptions you make about your colleagues. What if you had a framework and a common language you could use which would help you better communicate each other’s strengths and perspective? Making these visible enables you to bring different perspectives to bear on the issues you are wrestling with as a business or charity.
3. How can you grow in your leadership? Let me ask this a different way. If you could who would you ask out to lunch so you could learn from them? Spending time with those who are further on in the leadership journey will give you insight into how they did it. Things you may be unaware of. What questions would you ask them? To get the most out of this you need to be prepared. Here are 7 great questions my leadership mentor John Maxwell asks:
- What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your life?
- What are you learning right now?
- How has failure shaped your life?
- Who do you know that I should know?
- What are your reading that I should read?
- What have you done that I should do?
- How can I serve you?
Great questions why not try them out yourself.
PS. It doesn’t need to take long for you to get a breakthrough. A taster session of one hour I did for a small business owner recently resulted in a breakthrough which will significantly impact how they do business. What are you wrestling with? Email me at mark@smartculture.uk to arrange a discovery call.
Photo by jesse orrico on Unsplash
