This short post is for any leader working to develop the leaders around them…
If you’re a leader, it means by requirement someone is following.
Perhaps you lead a small team, a larger department, or an entire organization. In any capacity, every leader has at least one person following. After all, if there are no followers, you’re not leading; you’re just going for a walk.
I assume you, as a leader, hope to encourage and inspire those following to grow into better leaders themselves. This is why we put so much emphasis on leadership development programs and strategies. This is also why we constantly question the success of our leadership development programs and strategies.
As an organizational consultant and leadership coach, one of the primary questions I get is “how can I better develop leaders?”
It’s as if we believe the solution to leadership development is a complicated strategy of steps, books, classes, courses, conferences, and… you get the point.
Let me give you another option. Not that we shouldn’t attempt to implement processes and strategies for leadership development.
You’ve probably heard the phrase “great leaders ask great questions.” That’s true. Equally true is this statement:
“Great leaders grow leaders through asking great questions.”
Asking the growing leaders around you great questions is perhaps the most overlooked leadership development opportunity.
Leveraging questions with a leadership development strategy encourages those around you to consider their best answer. The processing of great answers to your great questions moves leaders forward.
If you are a leader, here are Eight Great Questions that Encourage Leadership Development:
- What are you working on big?
- What is on your horizon?
- What can I do to help you now?
- How can we get better? How are you getting better?
- How are you measuring success?
- What is your greatest challenge?
- What are you doing to stay motivated?
- What is currently breaking your heart?
To apply these questions, simply incorporate each one on a rotation during your one-on-one meetings (you do have individual meetings with your direct reports, right?).
One more tip: A day or two before each meeting, send the person you’ll meet with a quick agenda for the conversation, including the question from the above list above. An agenda allows the processors around you to think first. It also enables the non-processors to think beyond their first inclination.
Leadership development is a never-ending struggle. It doesn’t necessitate a massively complex strategy and process, though. Perhaps it can start simply with some great questions.
How can I help?
Partnering with ministry and marketplace leaders from innovation through implementation is why I created Transformation Solutions. I’m dedicating my time to helping leaders like you discover potential problems, design strategic solutions, and deliver the preferable future.
Go right now to mytransformationsolutions.com and sign up for a free, 15-minute conversation to decide if working together works for you.
