How to be the Leader People Love to See

Jul 7, 2021

Spending time with their manager is the worst part of the day for employees. What makes managers so un-delightful? Managers are unintentionally malevolent when they have an agenda that has nothing to do with people.

Bores always have a personal agenda. When un-delightful managers ask questions, you wonder what they really want.

Leadership success requires curiosity that extends beyond results.

People love to see leaders who love people.

People love to see leaders who love people.

We all know you don’t care about people when results are all you talk about. Leaders who only ask about results are uninteresting, short-sighted, self-serving, self-absorbed energy sucks.

Ask questions that strengthen relationships:

Questions about people:

  1. What interests team members outside of work?

  2. What do people do for fun?

  3. How did your team members get into their line of work?

  4. Who are the rising stars on your team? How can you support and challenge them?

  5. Who is performing below expectation? How will you seek their best interest?

  6. How might you support people?

  7. Who needs a new challenge?

Questions about challenges:

  1. What’s keeping you up at night?

  2. If things were better, what would it look like?

  3. What small step in the right direction can you take today?

Questions about successes:

  1. Where are you seeing progress?

  2. What do you think is causing progress?

  3. What’s working?

Questions about the future:

  1. What will make tomorrow better than today for you?

  2. If things fall apart, what will you have neglected to do?

  3. What three things could you do to make next week better than this week? How can I help?

Genuine questions set direction.

Energy shrivels when problems, complaints, and falling short are the recurring topic of conversation. But a good question ignites vitality.

How might leaders demonstrate their love for people?

What questions strengthen relationships?

By Dan Rockwell