3 Asking nurturing and challenging questions

Asking effective questions generates collective knowledge and possibility. By asking an effective question, you are forcing the person (or people) being asked that question to shift – either by clarifying, expanding or connecting their thinking. By helping to shape meaning making in this way, you are engaged in leadership practice.

However, not all questions can be classed as leadership-generating questions. Clarifying what non-leadership questions look like can help you to identify questions that do generate leadership more clearly.

Figure 5 Asking questions generates new knowledge and opens up possibilities

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This is a photograph of a woman writing question words on a whiteboard: who, how, when, where, what, why.

Figure 5 Asking questions generates new knowledge and opens up possibilities

Firstly, ‘closed questions’ are those that invite a simple ‘yes/no’ response without the need for much follow-up justification. Closed questions usually stifle the generation of new meaning and simply clarify or re-enforce status quo thinking.

Secondly, ‘disguised questions’ are opinions or statements of fact posing as questions. They are ways in which the questioner seeks to divert attention to their own perspective through the (often misleading) form of a question: ‘Wouldn’t you agree that…’; ‘Have you thought about adopting this plan…’ Disguised questions do not always seek to manipulate others into agreeing with the questioner – sometimes they can be effective at clarifying thinking or connecting different lines of thought. However, when the person asking leading questions also tends to dominate conversations, the motivation is likely to be self-orientated.

Leadership questions are distinct. They are questions that stretch the conversation, encouraging all parties to reach into new territory together. Working with this notion of stretch, the leadership development designer and facilitator Fiona Kennedy has likened asking leadership questions to throwing the ball into space in a rugby match. In rugby, the ball is often passed into the space where you would like to see your team-mate run, rather than directly into their body. This is a technique that develops forward momentum, opening up new spaces for creativity and motion.

As with sport, so with leadership: when you pose a question, try to think of it as a task of opening up new space for the group to consider. By posing questions, you are making your conversation partners stretch in order to answer, thereby opening up new space.