Redefining Leadership

Old school leadership says that good leaders have all the answers. Wow, what an impossible position.

Let’s redefine what it means to be a good leader. What if we can let go of needing to have all the answers already and can instead ask the best questions to elicit the answer(s)! What if we can tap into all the brilliant databases around us instead of just accessing the one in our own head?

I heard a story about Henry Ford. Some people were giving him a hard time about not being smart enough. He told them to come by his office and he’d answer any question they had.

Henry’s response to their first question was to tell his secretary to get Thomas Edison on the phone.

They thought he was cheating but, he knew how to get the answers he needed. Ask the right people.

Einstein said, “All of life’s answers are available, if we just knew which questions to ask.”

So instead of thinking for other people, ask ~ What do you want? What do you need? How can I be of use to you? What can you do right now to move yourself forward? What are your options? Where are you going and what do you need to get there? What’s working and how can you do more of that? Etc.

People are much more likely to buy into their own answers than to advice from someone else. Plus, they have access to the database that really matters – the one inside their own head.

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photo credit: The Henry Ford via photopin cc