The Power of Good Leadership Questions

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN

Leadership expert Michael Bungay-Stanier has noted that a great question can unlock powerful important answers. This is a secret that great leaders have always known – which is to talk less and ask more questions. On his company website Box of Crayons Bungay-Stanier has short video clips of leaders, coaches, and writers who talk about “their one best question”. There is much to be learned from the questions that they have found to be the most powerful ones in their careers. The following are 25 of my favorite leadership questions from his videos and the work of other leader coaches:

What would you do in your career if you weren’t afraid of failing? – a good question for your career planning
How do you think that person felt when they left that conversation with you? – a good question to ask yourself or staff after a highly charged conversation.
What if things are exactly as they should be right now? – a good question to ask if you are in a very difficult career or personal situation.
How did you learn to do that? – a good question to ask when you observe someone who is highly skilled in something you want to become better at.
So what have (I/you) learned from this experience? – a good question to ask after a failure or negative experience.
If you could wave a magic wand and make things different – what would that look like? – a good question to ask if you are in a very difficult career or personal situation to determine what we really want.
How could we do this differently? – a good question to open more options in a discussion.
What is the kindest thing (I/you) could do right now? – this is an especially good question for customer service recovery.
How did you get to be you? – a great question to ask if you admire someone and their career success.
How can I help? – a simple question to ask when someone is suffering or in trouble.
What do you do best? – a great question to ask in career coaching to identify the strengths of individuals.
What is stopping you? – a good question to ask when coaching gets stalled or someone is not following through on their goals.
What is funny in this situation? – a good question to ask to see the humor in even the most challenging situations.
What do you want to happen? – this question gets to the heart of an outcome that others may be seeking from you.
What are you reading right now? – this question provides insight into others and what matters to them.
Who would you be without that thought? – this question is a great way to directly discuss the impact of thoughts that we or others might be ruminating about.
What are all of these things helping to solve in the organization? – if you see someone who is in motion but the accomplishments are not clear – this is an important question to ask.
What have I done in the last week to improve myself? – this is a great question to prod us to be continual learners.
When was the last time – you said, thought or felt I love my work? – this is an important question to ask about our careers especially if we feel stalled.
What is the one thing (I/you) could do next to change that situation? – this is a good question to ask to re-activate a stalled relationship or plans.
How do you want them to feel? – this is a critical leadership question to ask about what impact we want to have on others.
How does all of this fit together? – this is a great question to ask if plans seem disjointed.
What would have to be true that is not true now for this to be successful – this is a great question to ask prior to launching an initiative.
Could this be a self-limiting belief that you are expressing here? – this is a great question to ask to call out self-limiting beliefs that others might have about their ability.
How do you know your perceptions are accurate? – this is a good question to ask if either you or someone you are coaching has jumped to a conclusion that may or may not be accurate.

Well-focused questions gather important information, identify unspoken assumptions, clarify issues and explore options. Great nursing leaders are both reflective about their own situations and never stop being curious about how others think.

Read Rose Sherman’s new book available now – The Nurse Leader Coach: Become the Boss No One Wants to Leave