Are you asking the right questions?

I had a small epiphany with one of our Prophiteers during a Servant Leadership meeting last Thursday. The lesson for today’s Wisdom is this: As well as you may think you may know someone, you probably don’t (At least not everything that individual may need to be successful).

 

We have a process that allows you to unveil the motivations of a person. We call it the About Me Program. Through this process, Lauren, our Account Coordinator and Copywriter revealed that she learns through the written word. She needs to write things down in order to properly listen and process the information. I am an auditory learner. I need to listen for comprehension.

 

So what is the great breakthrough here? Because I didn’t understand her process, I interpreted “writing things down” with not listening. Lauren would have her pad in hand and write, write, write as I spoke. Last week I told her to forget her note pad, “I just want you to listen to me,” I said. Lauren appeased me, but in the meantime could not fully appreciate and understand what I was saying because she couldn’t write it down.

 

I’m sure I stressed her out by not allowing her to process her way. I forced her, in that interaction, to process information my way. Leaders need to ask solid questions to their associates so they understand how they need to process information. According to some studies, only about 20 percent of learners are visual. Most people are auditory learners, so Lauren may have been my first run-in with a visual learner (I’m sure I’ve had more but I forgot to ask).

 

By asking better questions of the individual team members we can create a more efficient, less stressed team! Now, doesn’t that make sense? And it all starts with a question.

 

Joe Kiedinger

 

ACTION PLAN: To find out about The About Me Program… e-mail me!