78 Important Questions Every Leader Should Ask and Answer Book

	Preface	XIII
	How to Use This Book	XV
	A Warning	XVII
	Acknowledgments	XIX
	Introduction: Answers, You Want Answers	1
	The Power and Problem of Why?	6
1	Questions Leaders Need to Ask Themselves	9
1.	What does leadership mean?	11
2.	How do you feel about being a leader?	13
3.	What do you want to be remembered for?	15
4.	Are you happy?	17
5.	What are you afraid of?	19
6.	Are you sure you want to ask questions?	21
	What did You Learn?	23
	Chapter One Worksheet	23
2	Questions Leaders Need to Ask Customers	27
7.	Why do you do business with us?	30
8.	Why do you do business with our competition?	31
9.	How and when have we made it hard for you to do business with us?	33
10.	What will you need from us in the future?	35
11.	If you were me, what's one thing you'd change about my organization?	37
12.	How can we effectively tell you that we're grateful for your business?	39
	What did You Learn?	41
	Chapter Two Worksheet	42
3	Questions Leaders Need to Ask Employees About the Business	45
13.	How do we make money?	48
14.	How does your work contribute to our success?	50
15.	How could we save money?	52
16.	How could you make your job more effective?	54
17.	What's the most important thing you know about our customers?	55
18.	What's something we could offer to our customers?	57
19.	Who do you see as our competition, and what do you know about them?	58
	What did You Learn?	60
	Chapter Three Worksheet	61
4	Deeper Questions Leaders Need to Ask Employees	63
20.	What gets in the way of your doing your job?	67
21.	What does our leadership team do that gets in the way of your doing your job?	69
22.	What's a recent management decision you didn't understand?	71
23.	How could we communicate management decisions more effectively?	73
24.	If you could change one thing about our organization's collective behavior, what would it be?	75
25.	What's a potential benefit we could offer that would be helpful to you?	77
26.	What is it like to work on a team in our organization?	79
27.	How do you feel at the start of your workweek?	81
28.	How do you feel at the end of your workweek?	83
29.	What volunteer work do you do?	84
30.	What makes you proud of working as a part of our organization?	86
31.	What's something you've learned in the past week?	88
32.	What brings you joy in your work?	90
33.	What do you do just for the fun of it?	92
34.	What gives your life meaning?	94
	What did You Learn?	95
	Chapter Four Worksheet	96
5	Questions to Ask in Special Situations	99
	Questions for New Employees	102
35.	Why did you decide to join our firm...really?	102
36.	If you had to describe our organization in one word, what would that word be?	104
37.	What's a great question I could ask someone who's new to our organization?	106
38.	What questions can I answer for you?	108
	Questions for Coaching and Mentoring Sessions	110
39.	What are the strengths you bring to the workplace?	110
40.	What skills do you need to learn?	112
41.	What skills do you need to practice?	113
42.	Who in our organization do you need to know?	115
43.	What work would you like to be doing in five years?	117
	Questions for Newly Promoted Leaders	118
44.	Why do you think we made you a leader?	118
45.	What did the best leader you ever had do?	120
46.	What do you need to learn to be a great leader?	121
47.	How can we support you as you grow into this leadership position?	123
	Questions During a Crisis	125
48.	Are you all right?	125
49.	What do you need to know?	127
50.	What do you need?	129
	What did You Learn?	130
	Chapter Five Worksheet	131
6	Questions Leaders Need to Answer	135
51.	What do you see happening in our organization over the next twelve months?	138
52.	What is the future of our industry?	140
53.	What gets you excited about the future?	142
54.	How do you learn about our customers?	144
55.	How do you know what I do in my job?	146
56.	How can I advance in our organization?	148
57.	How do you make decisions?	150
58.	How do you take time to think?	152
59.	What makes you angry in the workplace?	155
60.	How do you measure success?	157
61.	What are you learning?	159
62.	How do you stay positive?	161
63.	How do you re-ignite your enthusiasm for your job?	163
64.	What do you love about your job?	165
65.	What do you do just for fun?	167
66.	What gives your life meaning?	169
	What did You Learn?	171
	Chapter Six Worksheet	172
7	Answers for Special Situations	175
	During a Business Crisis	177
67.	What's happening?	177
68.	What's going to happen next?	178
69.	What's going to happen to me?	179
70.	Am I going to have a job next month?	180
71.	What's the long-term impact of this crisis?	181
	During a Merger or Acquisition	182
72-73.	What's going to change? What's going to happen to my job?	182
74.	Who will be my leader?	184
75.	Will our values last?	185
	During the Personal Crisis of an Employee	186
76-78.	What will the organization do to support me? What are my benefits? What will this mean for my career?	186
	What did You Learn?	188
	Chapter Seven Worksheet	189
8	Delivering Tough Answers	191
	Answering when the answer is I don't know	193
	Answering when the answer is No	194
	Answering when there isn't an answer	195
	Answering when you can't answer	196
	Answering when no one wants to hear the answer	197
	Answering a question that's just too personal	198
	What did You Learn?	199
	Chapter Eight Worksheet	200
	Conclusion: Some Final Questions	203
Appendix	Good Questions from Other Leaders	207
	Suggested Reading List	212
	Index	215