Leadership Nudge™ 194 – Let Them Say Yes! admin February 28, 2018

Leadership Nudge™ 194 – Let Them Say Yes!

Let’s talk about how we ask questions as leaders.

Some questions are better than other questions.

You don’t want to ask a question where your people will have to respond negatively:

  • “Have you completed the project yet?”
  • “Well, no but we’re almost done.”

Instead, ask a question that they can respond positively to:

  • “Have you made progress on the project?”
  • “Well, yes and we’re almost done.”

Perhaps, even better, could be, “Tell me how the project is going.” This is guaranteed not to put them in a bad position because they can talk about what progress they’ve made. That will make them feel good about what they are accomplishing.

So, today’s Leadership Nudge is:

Ask questions that people can respond affirmatively to.
Avoid the “No, but…” questions.

I’m David Marquet. That’s your Leadership Nudge.