What is "The Power of Using Questions" About?

Thank you for dropping by. This is my first post for the blog "The Power of Using Questions" and the first point of order is to explain what it is about. Here is the simple version: The Power of Using Questions is about having effective and productive relationship through the use of powerful questions.

Read on for the longer version.

I first learned of the power of using questions several years ago when I was working with leaders of non-profit organizations, helping to resource them to be better leaders. I had spent several years prior to this "awakening" attempting to accomplish my task by providing quality training experiences, operating out of the assumption that "we do better when we know better."

Certainly knowledge is a big piece of the puzzle, but it definitely is not the only piece. This realization dawned on me when I finally admitted that the training approach was not affecting much change in helping leaders more fully realize their potential. A few years and innumerable training events later, while working with mostly the same leaders, I had to admit there must be a better way. Little change in leadership effectiveness was evident.

So I set out on a year and one half mission to find a better way. In the end I concluded that the missing link was coaching. Now, I know coaching has become a "buzzword" in many circles. But I find it is often used in a context which has little to do with coaching as I came to understand it, utilizing the power of using questions is not realized.

It was through training and certification I went through to be a leadership coach that I came to realize the power of using questions. But what I also have come to realize is that it doesn't take a certified coach to take advantage of the power of using questions. Anyone in most any situation can increase their effectiveness in relating to others by learning to ask questions and to quit telling long enough to listen to the answers.

But there is the rub. Too many of us, myself included, enjoy hearing ourselves talk and are made to feel more important by telling others what is best rather than being still long enough to ask and listen. By doing so we can discover how much more empowering and motivating this approach can be for those to whom we relate and in turn for ourselves.

My plan for this blog is to provide the benefits of the Power of Using Questions to whomever wishes to benefit from it. I invite you to check back regularly - even subscribe to this blog if you wish - to continue learning the benefits of using questions in your setting.