BYP: Great leaders inspire vibrant future

Great leaders inspire and engage individuals toward a shared vision of a vibrant future.  These same leaders do not bring all the answers to the table.  Instead, they strive to lead by engaging the organization in strategic inquiry.  Creating an organizational culture where it is safe to ask difficult questions at every level of the business is an art, and this culture of strategic inquiry can open the door to dialogue and discovery.  Aligning questions with a shared and compelling vision for the future will ignite the creative insights of employees.  If employees have ownership in the outcome, it can boost the company’s bottom line.

What are the innovative possibilities of an organization where everyone can produce a difficult question?  

Many of the most provocative questions that are vital to an organization’s future are discovered on the front lines in the middle of the action.  How many of these key strategic questions are lost and why?   The opportunity for today’s leader is to understand how to engage and honor the social fabric of learning that occurs on a day-to-day basis throughout the organization.   Encouraging work teams that share common goals to expand their individual and collective capacity to solve problems will ensure that the organization is accessing innovative sources of knowledge, energy, and creativity.   

Sometimes leaders believe that they are paid for fixing problems rather than fostering breakthrough thinking.  This focus on having the “right answers” rather than discovering the “right questions” can discourage others.   

Powerful questions, on the other hand, can create images of possibility and innovative solutions to our most pressing concerns.  Engaging work teams, and even customers, in the dialog and debate surrounding a concern can lead to a productive, unique action.  When people generate creative insights, they can ignite change.

What makes a question powerful?  The following list is from “The Art of Powerful Questions” by Vogt, Brown, and Isaacs:

Generates curiosity in the listener

Stimulates reflective conversation

Examines underlying assumptions

Invites creativity and new possibilities

Generates energy and forward movement

Channels attention and focuses inquiry

Join the Boise Young Professionals at http://www.boiseyp.org/blog/as we use the strategic inquiry process to generate a list of powerful questions that might stimulate new knowledge and creative thinking. Look at these questions to stimulate your own thinking about questions related to your specific situation.[MSOffice1] 

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Ken Carroll partners with over 170 leaders in the local real estate industry to realize their potential as the Director of Career Development for Group One.  Ken is also on the Leadership Team and an active participant of the Professional and Leadership Development work team for the Boise Young Professionals.

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One Response to “BYP: Great leaders inspire vibrant future”

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