…they should ask (more) questions.

Of course, that's not the only reason question-asking should be among the top five of every good leader's behaviors.

By asking questions, the leader can establish that the business culture supports two-way communication. By asking questions, the leader can build stronger relationship with the company's entire employee base. By asking questions, the leader can encourage greater thinking skills throughout the company. You may want to read each statement as By asking more and better questions…

A leadership team that goes out of its way to engage employees at all levels in questions and answers demonstrates that

• Leadership wants to learn rather to give all the answers. An organization in which everyone has the opportunity and the willingness to learn makes the first step to being a Learning Organization. Research proves that employees more readily commit to (engage in) their work and their company when their company commits to the continuous improvement of learning…at all levels. The generative thinking that supports a true learning organization can best be stimulated by asking questions. If the business culture is to value the question as a learning tool, leadership should be the first to ask questions.

• Leadership wants all in the company to appreciate the value of asking. Employees tend to model the behavior of those in charge, more especially when they appreciate and respect those individuals and their behavior. A leader cannot expect her people to ask more questions and more meaningful questions, if she does not ask the same. Frequently. Energetically. Asking questions, demonstrating appreciation of the answers received, and asking add-on questions are key.

• Leadership believes the right questions generate learning, understanding, correcting, and improving the business. As there may be no "dumb questions," there are questions that are more valuable to the growth of an organization's culture and cultural awareness. Questions that ask for and value individual's experience, knowledge, insight, and thought are such questions. Questions that challenge individuals to think in greater detail and from new perspectives are such questions. Questions that continually expand the ways in which thinking occurs are such questions.

Asking (more and better) questions really is not hard. The hard part is making time and making effort to incorporate questioning into regular, everyday communications. But no matter how much time it takes and how much effort it requires, the results will prove of greater value.

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/godsmac/sets/72157607342978547/

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Tags: Communication, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Management