Leaders: What their questions will tell you

Recently I was invited in to lead an EOS® review session with a group of next level leaders. I believe great conversations start with a question, so every session I lead starts with, “What questions do you want answered today?”

When I asked this group of leaders, here is what they shared. As you read these questions, what themes do you see and what gaps would they reveal if this were your organization?

1. Data/Scorecards/Measurables/Issues: How do you make things more visible and knock them out forever?
2. What is the biggest hurdle when companies go to EOS®?
3. Agile is a software design approach of cross-functional teams. How does EOS® fit into this?
4. Does EOS® work for all companies/organizations?
5. What happens when Rocks are not hit?
6. How did EOS® come about? Why did we decide to use it?
7. When did our organization start using EOS®?
8. How challenging should Rocks be?
9. How many companies have implemented EOS®?
10. Accountability: Is it dependent on my manager?

As I listened, a few things hit me about this group:

1. There was a gap in teaching around Rocks and people were still a little uncertain about them. (#5, #8)
2. When helping adults learn, it is important to connect new concepts/words with something they are already familiar with. This should be part of onboarding, and I wondered if that was happening well? (#1, #3, #10)
3. It is easy to forget to talk about the ‘Why?’ when teaching and spend too much time focused on the ‘What?’ and ‘How?’. Someone on the leadership team needs to be a storyteller, and in this case not enough time had been spent talking about the journey. (#6, #7)

Empathy is not a talent that all people have, and trying to become an expert in reading behaviors or all the subtle hints that get passed along in conversation is something most of us will fail to master. We can all ask questions, and if we couple that with creating a space where we can listen to the answers, it becomes easier to understand the needs, wants, and barriers of the person sitting across from us.

That is the main belief behind my people-centered leadership motto: Listen . . Lead. Repeat often!

Here are some valuable tips on listening using the Johari Window in a short video.

Here are a couple of tools I use to script questions for leaders:

• One-on-one form
• New leader transition plan