78 Important Questions Every Leader Should Ask and Answer

How to Use This Book --
A Warning --
Introduction: Answers, You Want Answers --
The Power and Problem of Why? --
Questions Leaders Need to Ask Themselves --
What does leadership mean? --
How do you feel about being a leader? --
What do you want to be remembered for? --
Are you happy? --
What are you afraid of? --
Are you sure you want to ask questions? --
Questions Leaders Need to Ask Customers --
Why do you do business with us? --
Why do you do business with our competition? --
How and when have we made it hard for you to do business with us? --
What will you need from us in the future? --
If you were me, what\'s one thing you\'d change about my organization? --
How can we effectively tell you that we\'re grateful for your business? --
Questions Leaders Need to Ask Employees About the Business --
How do we make money? --
How does your work contribute to our success? --
How could we save money? --
How could you make your job more effective? --
What\'s the most important thing you know about our customers? --
What\'s something we could offer to our customers? --
Who do you see as our competition, and what do you know about them? Deeper Questions Leaders Need to Ask Employees --
What gets in the way of your doing your job? --
What does our leadership team do that gets in the way of your doing your job? --
What\'s a recent management decision you didn\'t understand? --
How could we communicate management decisions more effectively? --
If you could change one thing about our organization\'s collective behavior, what would it be? --
What\'s a potential benefit we could offer that would be helpful to you? --
What is it like to work on a team in our organization? --
How do you feel at the start of your workweek? --
How do you feel at the end of your workweek? --
What volunteer work do you do? --
What makes you proud of working as a part of our organization? --
What\'s something you\'ve learned in the past week? --
What brings you joy in your work? --
What do you do for the fun of it? --
What gives your life meaning? --
Questions to Ask in Special Situations --
Questions for New Employees --
Why did you decide to join our firm ... really? --
If you had to describe our organization in one word, what would that word be? --
What\'s a great question I could ask someone who\'s new to our organization? --
What questions can I answer for you? --
Questions for Coaching and Mentoring Sessions --
What are the strengths you bring to the workplace? --
What skills do you need to learn? --
What skills do you need to practice? --
Who in our organization do you need to know? --
What work would you like to be doing in five years? --
Questions for Newly Promoted Leaders --
Why do you think we made you a leader? --
What did the best leader you ever had do? --
What do you need to learn to be a great leader? --
How can we support you as you grow into this leadership position? --
Questions During a Crisis --
Are you all right? --
What do you need to know? --
What do you need? Questions Leaders Need to Answer --
What do you see happening in our organization over the next twelve months? --
What is the future of our industry? --
What gets you excited about the future? --
How do you learn about our customers? --
How do you know what I do in my job? --
How can I advance in our organization? --
How do you make decisions? --
How do you make time to think? --
What makes you angry in the workplace? --
How do you measure success? --
How do you re-ignite your enthusiasm for your job? --
What do you love about your job? --
What do you do just for fun? --
What gives your life meaning? --
Answers for Special Situations --
During a Business Crisis --
What\'s happening? --
What\'s going to happen next? --
What\'s going to happen to me? --
Am I going to have a job next month? --
What\'s the long-term impact of this crisis? --
During a Merger or Acquisition --
What\'s going to change? What\'s going to happen to my job? --
Who will be my leader? --
Will our values last? --
During the Personal Crisis of an Employee --
What will the organization do to support me? What are my benefits? What will this mean for my career? --
Delivering Tough Answers --
Answering when the answer is I don\'t know --
Answering when the answer is No --
Answering when there isn\'t an answer --
Answering when you can\'t answer --
Answering when no one wants to hear the answer --
Answering a question that\'s just too personal --
Conclusion: Some Final Questions --
Appendix: Good Questions from Other Leaders.