Make Every Answer Count

Do your people ask you a lot of questions?

I remember as a supervisor getting tons of questions, so many in fact that I appointed my number two (who was smarter than me at the technical details anyway) in charge of any question focused on the technical details. That freed me up to answer questions about discipline, vacations, team orientations, training, or the occasional rambling series of questions meant to just spend some quality time with the boss. I'm thinking of you, Carl.

It feels flattering to get so many questions. I must be smart, and I must have answers if so many people ask. That is only partly true, but I did learn that how I answered each question mattered.

How the supervisor answers questions largely determines how valued each team member feels. There's a line wide enough to park your car on between answering too much and answering too little. Supervisors have lots of attitude. They also have lots of work to do, so it's tempting to give the briefest of brief questions, even as our team members ponder the wisdom that falls from our busy lips.

I learned to give a thoughtful, provocative answer that lead the team member to the direction of learning and still encouraged them to develop answers of their own. I'm not sure if that's an art or a science and sometimes I didn't manage it to anyone's satisfaction ("Hey, Earl -- what do you think?") but my answers got better the more I did it and once people realized that the heavy lifting to a question is asking the right question, I received fewer silly or easy questions and more deep and probing ones. Which was fine for me and better for the team.

High performance leaders encourage their team members to ask great questions. Leave the easy questions for online research or the break room. Encourage your people to ask you the tough questions, the fascinating questions, the questions that make you stop and think.

Then as a leader, step up to the challenge. Give answers that change days, change habits, change lives.

Make every answer worthy of the question.

You'll get better questions, and you'll amuse yourself with the answers.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

I guarantee that every question will be better if your people learn the CLUES to Communication Success. Contact me today about scheduling a webinar for them.

doug@dougsmithtraining.com

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