The Magic of Questions for Breakthrough Leadership
To change disabling beliefs, the transformational tools we must use are enabling questions. First, however, you must turn on your alertness and powers of observation. You must look carefully at your teammates’ spirits to discover what they truly believe. Sometimes they will tell you in words that they have positive beliefs, but their body language and energy are screaming with doubt and uncertainty.
When you sense that they do not truly believe they can reach the goals they have set for themselves, or that they believe they lack the talent, tenacity, or resources to accomplish their desired outcomes, there are some foundational questions that help them replace weak, termite infested ‘legs’ with strong new timber, perfect for supporting winning beliefs. I call these the ‘Transformation Questions’ because only when disabling beliefs are replaced with new enabling ones does genuine transformation become possible.
Transformation Questions:
- What have you accomplished in your life that when you began you had no idea how you could possibly achieve it?
- How did you do it?
- How did it make you feel?
- What did you learn from the experience?
- How would you accomplish this goal now if you knew it was possible?
- How would you achieve 10% (or 20% or 50%) of your goal?*
- How will you feel to reach this objective?**
- What will it mean to your team?***
*Often the challenge for people about a belief is the degree of change or improvement they believe is required. Through this question you help them move in the direction of the goal. Instantly they find themselves viewing their ultimate destination from a new, closer, more possible perspective.
**This is a ‘compelling why’ question. Compelling whys give rise to breakthrough hows! When your teammates visualize the rich and positive emotions they will feel from the achievement of their goals, they will increase both their inspiration and their strategic creativity. This question also includes an enabling presupposition that the goal has already been achieved.
***There is no single, more powerful way to intensify positive, compelling emotion than to fill your visualizations with those you care about deeply.