Managers: Do you answer your team's questions like this?
A lesson I learned from a highly respected EVP
Morrrning Team! Happy Tuesday
I appreciate you sticking with me whilst I sent those 3 emails about the communication event this Wednesday - I promise this isn’t one of those!!! :p (Although if you’re not coming at this point you’re seriously missing out - I’ll put a link at the bottom of the blog post justttt in case)
Let’s get to it…
Are you asking your team these questions?
When I first joined Sage back in 2021, I learned a really impactful lesson from one of the EVPs
He was a high-up executive, but most importantly to me, a leader I really respected.
He was firm, but not mean, and I couldn’t help but to take so much notice as to why he made me feel really accountable to getting sh*t done -but not anxious or fearful in any way.
I noticed he did one thing differently from most others in any room - he rarely answered questions.
He rarely gave directions or answers… Instead, he went back to most things he was asked with a question.
Example
One of his marketing team members asked the question:
“should we be focussing on social media marketing or email, because I’m struggling to prioritise both?”
Then instead of giving them the answer, he would ask a series of questions so they can find the answer themselves. Along the lines of:
“Which place is capturing our target audience best?“
“Which is performing better for us right now?”
“Which do you feel you have the most skills in?”
“Do we need to upskill you in delivering one of those so you feel more confident in it?”
They’ll most likely not have all the answers to those questions, and that’s ok.
But it hands the accountability back, empowers them, and gives them the opportunity to make a great choice for themselves.
Let’s focus on asking more questions than we answer this week.
Peace,
H
P.S. Very very last chance to get your ticket for tomorrow’s live event (Code ITM10 for your newsletter exclusive discount)
Thank you to the hundreds of you who are joining me, I’m putting all the final touches on the challenge docs today -I can’t WAIT to see you all there! 💖💖