‘The quality of the question determines the quality of the outcome- always’ Richard Maybury

I have been working with people on big picture questions a lot recently, probably a function of the times we live in. Leaders always ask great questions of themselves and others. In a recent discussion I found myself referring to the questions I first wrote about back in Feb 07 and I found that this had not made its way to this blog, so here’s an edited version with a great schedule of ‘Leadership’ questions and important source references. This is not a thesis on Leadership, you can’t read a thesis over a quick cup of coffee during a power-break at work! 

This was inspired by reflecting again on Jack Welch’s book Winning (of which I am a big fan and raving advocate – BUY IT!) Then I read Robert S Kaplan’s article in January’s Harvard Business Review. I like Kaplan. He makes sense. The strap line to the article is ‘There comes a point in your career when the best way to figure out how you are doing is to step back and ask yourself a few questions. Having all the answers is less important than knowing what to ask’

He suggests asking ourselves a number of questions in 7 key areas. You can check how to find his full schedule further in this article, meanwhile here’s a selection for you to consider for yourself:

Vision and Priorities
How often do I communicate my own vision for my part of the business?

Managing Time
How am I spending my time? Does it match my key priorities?

Feedback
Do I have specific reports who will tell me things I may not want to hear but need to hear?

Succession Planning
Have I become a decision making bottleneck?

Evaluation and alignment
Is the design of my part of the business still aligned with the key success factors for the business?

Leading under pressure
What type of events create pressure for me and how do I behave in those events under pressure?

Staying true to yourself
Do I assert myself sufficiently, or have I become tentative?

With acknowledgement to Robert S Kaplan whose papers I always read and HBR.ORG, a must-read journal and a great web resource. 
Feel free to  contact me to discuss how we can tailor a programme to your exact needs.