Recently one of my friends made a statement that I totally
disagreed with. My first thought was to
respond “Are you crazy But instead, I asked a series of questions that helped
me understand his viewpoint. What I
realized after the conversation is that asking questions has been part of my
life ever since I can remember.
In the business world, I would ask questions to find out
what was going on in different parts of the company. I also found that asking questions could
provide great feedback. One of my
favorite questions was, “If you were president of the company, what changes
would you make?”
I always enjoyed hearing the answers. People were totally honest and realistic in
their suggestions. And most of the time,
I could implement the changes quickly, which made frontline workers feel that
they had a stake in the organization. They were also more open to suggest
things in the future.
Now, as a teacher, I encourage students to ask questions so
that they can gain the knowledge they need to be successful. Tony Robbins says that “successful people ask
better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
You can also ask questions that are transformational in
nature. One of my mentors recently asked
me what memories I want to make this year.
They also asked if there was anything I wanted to do but have not yet done.
In both cases, they offered their assistance to help me accomplish these goals
while pushing me to think beyond my limits.
Questions are a powerful tool in allowing you to be both informed
and transformed. My challenge to all of
us is to really think about and ask the type of questions that will make a
difference.
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