Ask Smarter Questions

You can tell a leader’s level in 5 minutes.

Just listen to their questions.

Most people memorize “smart questions.”
Great leaders do something very different.

They design the interaction.

They move through different types of questions to shape the room’s thinking:

Go / No Go – “Should this even be a meeting?”
Clarify Meaning – “What do we actually mean by this?”
Challenge Assumptions – “What if that’s not true?”
Critical Check – “What’s the evidence?”
Explore Causes – “What forces are at play here?”
Consider Effects – “What trend might this start?”
Drive to Action – “What will we do, by when, and how will we measure success?”
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Average leaders get stuck in one or two of these.
The best leaders climb up and down this ladder on purpose.

In 25 years at Microsoft, this was one of the simplest ways I helped leaders jump a level in how they show up in meetings.

Next meeting, try this:
Pick ONE category and live there for the first 10 minutes.

Watch how the quality of thinking, and how people see your leadership, changes.

Which category do you spend most of your time in right now?