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Can they ask you anything? Do they?

· Leadership,Coaching,Questions

Do you feel more embarrassed when you do not have the answer or when they do not ask you the question? Your door may be always open but is it open for learning or for penitence? If a leader answers all the questions she does not develop her team. If she does not welcome questions, she does not know the team's context. Where and how do you find the balance?

Here are the #Leadership #Coaching #Questions I asked on Twitter in April. I share this work in progress in the spirit of working out loud. Thank you to the clients, friends, authors and serendipity that inspired the questions. Notice which questions are productive for you and tell me where they take you. You can read more as I post them here. Enjoy the journey.

Is your leadership or management style scalable? If not, how can you claim more responsibility?

When was technology not eliminating jobs?

Did you choose your mentor wisely?

Which trap do 99% of people fall into - how do you know you are not in there with them?

Do you need courage to lead a non-linear career?

Could 'Transformation' be a useful word now?

How do your cultural preferences influence the way your communication is perceived by others?

To whom do you outsource your judgement?

Do you share your ideas?

How would you motivate troops?

Is the pace of change faster than ever?

Who wants to be your boss?

Would you work for yourself?

What problem is not a people problem?

How does your boss support your learning objectives?

Are you proud of your non-cognitive skills?

‏Who’s talking when you are in conversation with your boss: your inner parent or your inner child?

If you pay for a training course do you see a difference in outcome compared to your employer's sponsorship?

When did you last make fun of yourself at work?

Are you ready to be a transformational leader?

Can they ask you anything? Do they?

When is your self-talk at its loudest?

Do you interrupt others before they can finish a thought?

Are your millennials members of the trophy generation?

After-work drinks: networking or excluding?

Is it better for a leader's long-term success for them to be selected or to emerge?

When the team of your boss’s peers was last reshuffled, how did you participate in the process, if at all?

When is it time to thank the fly in the ointment?

How do you develop critical thinking skills?

Whose stress is making you micromanage?

Working from home: more work or more home?

Is your team successful?

Is ‘whatever it takes’ ever an acceptable answer at work?

What do you listen for when your direct report discloses a failure?

Do you say, ‘That’s a great question’? What exactly are you praising?

Does your team trust each other enough to have the conflicts it needs to have?

How hard do people have to work to get your attention?

Do you see the components or the system first?

How do you behave to make managing by walking around successful?

Time to change your attitude to change?

Who is responsible for your clients’ not liking your product or service?

Is subtlety a necessary feature of influence?

Do you feel belonging?

Is it possible to be a Top Performer and behave in a disengaged way?

If you have an outstanding boss does your job description matter?

When can you have an opinion?

How do you show compassion to yourself?

Are you maximizing the value of cultural differences in your team?

What is the future asking of you in this moment?

How many random acts of kindness have you made this week?

"Collaboration is the new innovation.” How could it be?

Is it a contemplative or sullen silence?

Besides during a job search when do you send a thank you note?

How many careers have you planned for?

Is the path to the wrong destination clearer than the other path?

How did you learn to say No?

Does your creativity track your energy?

How does your level of self-compassion vary your urge to judgement?

If stress = expectations – capacity, how will you will build your own resilience?

How often do you hear you staff speak their objectives out loud?

Are you held back from self-actualization by 'a bird in the hand'?

Have you noticed when your intuition is more or less articulate?

What is worth wasting?

How many calories do you burn behind your desk?

Is the long tail your reputation?

Are you expecting more of yourself than you have the capacity to deliver?

Do your staff understand their objectives?

What happens to your red lines over time: do they fade to yellow or pink or…?

Are you successful in spite of or because of your organisation's values?

Do you want to serve?

Are you combatting or collaborating with your fear?

If you don’t make space for yourself, how can you expect others to?

Can you be agile and stay the course?

Have you mastered your hiring biases?

Who doesn’t recognise you?

What is it that you do each day that you could NOT write a journal about?

What part do you play in others’ finding satisfying work?

How mature is your HR function?

When does ‘I cannot help' really mean ‘I can help but do not want to’?

Are you 'So Good They Can't Ignore You.’ ?

Have you experienced the extent of your capabilities?

Who asks you for advice?

When you meet a new team or group, do you intentionally put effort into bringing others to know you for who you really are?

Can you tolerate the otherness of others?

Influence or manipulation?

After you solve a problem, how do you learn?

Is making a business the same as making money?

Are you working on your behaviour?

When could you use a pause button?

Can you have a neutral space at work?

How will you finish the year as a thought-leader in your industry?

At what point does collaboration become Group-Think?

How do you respond to reticence when you see it around you?

Beneficially interested?

What has your MBA done for you?

Is your team aware of its biases?

Are your biases blocking your firm’s talent pipeline?

Do you notice & appreciate your own efforts for acquiring good habits?

Will the next conversation make your business stronger?

How healthy is your organisation?

How does your organization stop its people learning?

Is confusion the welcome mat for your intuition?

If you can't tell us what you do on the job, how can you be doing it?

Why are we so bothered about losing face?

Your gut or your head: which causes you more trouble?

Who can help you focus your business towards the long term?

Is quality your future?

Where is the best place to start?

What values did you refer to when you decided how to commit your working hours this week?

Who has the power now? Does it come from their role, knowledge or network?

Foster or steward - which best describes the expression of your active interest?

How much of the day do you spend on listening to your staff?

Do you take a hair of the dog approach to conflict resolution?

Is it what they say about you, or what you do with it that hurts?

How does your HR head show you the return on your investment in learning & development measures?

Can you achieve the purpose of the meeting without having a meeting?

When you complain about your boss’s level of interest, are you shying away from seizing an opportunity?

How does your boss react to your negative feelings?

How have you been refreshing and replenishing yourself?

What is a negative capability? What are yours?

Is mastering your emotions a worthwhile objective?

What are you selling to your customers?

Are the leadership qualities valued by your organisation the same qualities that lead you to success?

What’s your 2x2 matrix of this week?

If 2 years in any role is an important milestone to seriously evaluate the effort/growth equation, and if it tips to the effort side, what would you advise?

Are you an influencer yet?

A leap or a small step - how do you get unstuck?

What hurts a professional relationship?

Herding sheep or herding cats: how do you select you your management metaphors?

Is there any time they are not judging you?

How does your organisation define health?

What are the greatest timewasters for you so far this week?

Now what?

Hot-desking may generate more creativity or reduce costs but what does it do to belonging?

Do you use "borrowed” as compliment or criticism?

Is you leadership scalable?

Are you an ethical disruptor?

Do you experience ‘withdrawal’ from work?

If they listened to you, what would you say?

What does your boss wish she’d known when she offered you your current role?

Who can write the most useful biography of you?

Most people I meet want to work in a meritocracy. Is a meritocratic workplace possible?

When you hear ‘Forged’ do you hear misrepresented or made with intense effort?

How do you spend the time that you could be on a smoke break?

Do you have fun with your staff?

Who is responsible for your learning?

Are you positioning yourself for a mobile career?

Which conversations do you find easy?

How does your authenticity sound: unplugged or unprepared?

What can you not achieve with strong relationships & trust?

Do you share your strategy with your client?

When do you schedule bad news?

Does the big picture have a frame?

Are you living your passion?

Which battles are not worth fighting? What can you accept and move on?

How do you deal with bias when you encounter it?

How do you modify your style when building a relationship is your primary objective?

Are you willing to ask for the support you need?

Andrew Jones is an Executive Coach and Career Counselor. Please contact Andrew directly to learn more about this topic or subscribe below to hear more from Andrew in the future.