5 Questions That Inspire How I Lead

Judge a leader by their questions rather than by their answers.

• Toby Sinclair (Inspired by Voltaire)

Great leaders ask great questions.

They ask these questions most of themselves, not only the people they lead.

To become a coach-like leader, I have spent over 10,000hrs practising the art of asking questions.

In doing so, I have asked many of these of myself.

Here are 5 questions that have inspired how I lead:

1. What’s the ONE Thing I can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?
2. What am I chasing? Antelope or field mice?
3. If the worse case happens, how can I get back on track quickly?
4. What is it that needs doing, that I know something about, that probably won’t happen, unless I take responsibility for it?
5. What am I optimising for?

Here is why these questions work:

What’s the ONE Thing I can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

Inspired by Gary Keller - The One Thing.

I ask this question almost daily.

It works by focusing on subtraction rather than addition.

Less is often more.

What am I chasing? Antelope or field mice?

Inspired by Tim Ferris

I always have more problems than I can possibly solve.

It’s easy to chase the field mice. Small but easy problems.

I aim to find the courage to chase the antelope.

If the worse case happens, how can I get back on track quickly?

Inspired by Tim Ferris

Fear Setting is my favourite self-coaching tool.

It helps you recognise that our darkest fears

Are just stories in our minds.

What is it that needs doing, that I know something about, that probably won’t happen, unless I take responsibility for it?

Inspired by Buckminster Fuller

I’ve had this stuck on my monitor for the last 3 years.

I still don’t have a clear answer.

But I reflect on it daily.

What am I optimising for?

Inspired by Craig Larman

I mostly enjoyed Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) training for its focus on systems.

In particular, the optimising goal of adaptability.

I ask this question often.

It surfaces trade-offs and priorities.