Many leaders are unaware of the amazing power of questions. Our
conversations may be full of requests and demands, but all too
often we are not asking for honest and informative answers, and we
don't know how to listen effectively to responses. When
leaders start encouraging questions from their teams, however, they
begin to see amazing results. Knowing the right questions to
ask--and the right way to listen--will give any leader
the skills to perform well in any situation, effectively
communicate a vision to the team, and achieve lasting success
across the organization.

Thoroughly revised and updated, Leading with Questions
will help you encourage participation and teamwork, foster
outside-the-box thinking, empower others, build relationships with
customers, solve problems, and more. Michael Marquardt reveals how
to determine which questions will lead to solutions to even the
most challenging issues. He outlines specific techniques of active
listening and follow-up, and helps you understand how questions can
improve the way you work with individuals, teams, and
organizations.

This new edition of Leading with Questions draws on
interviews with thirty leaders, including eight whose stories are
new to this edition. These interviews tell stories from a range of
countries, including Singapore, Guyana, Korea, and Switzerland, and
feature case studies from prominent firms such as DuPont, Alcoa,
Novartis, and Cargill. A new chapter on problem-solving will help
you apply questions to your toughest situations as a leader, and a
new "Questions for Reflection" section at the end of
each chapter will help you bring Marquardt's message into all
of your work as a leader.

Now more than ever, Leading with Questions is the
definitive guide for becoming a stronger leader by
identifying--and asking--the right questions.

Michael J. Marquardt is professor of Human Resource Development and International Affairs, as well as program director of the Executive Leadership Program at George Washington University. He also serves as president of the World Institute for Action Learning. Dr. Marquardt has trained more than 100,000 managers in nearly 150 countries at organizations including Marriott, Microsoft, Sony Music, Goodrich, Motorola, Nortel, Alcoa, Boeing, and Caterpillar, as well as the governments of Indonesia, Laos, Ethiopia, Zambia, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia, Jamaica, Honduras, and Swaziland. He is the author of twenty-four books and over one hundred professional articles in the fields of leadership, learning, globalization, and organizational change.

Dr. Marquardt lives in the Washington, D.C. area and enjoys skiing, music, and traveling with his wife, four children, and nine grandchildren.

Zusammenfassung

Many leaders are unaware of the amazing power of questions. Our conversations may be full of requests and demands, but all too often we are not asking for honest and informative answers, and we don't know how to listen effectively to responses. When leaders start encouraging questions from their teams, however, they begin to see amazing results. Knowing the right questions to askand the right way to listenwill give any leader the skills to perform well in any situation, effectively communicate a vision to the team, and achieve lasting success across the organization.

Thoroughly revised and updated, Leading with Questions will help you encourage participation and teamwork, foster outside-the-box thinking, empower others, build relationships with customers, solve problems, and more. Michael Marquardt reveals how to determine which questions will lead to solutions to even the most challenging issues. He outlines specific techniques of active listening and follow-up, and helps you understand how questions can improve the way you work with individuals, teams, and organizations.

This new edition of Leading with Questions draws on interviews with thirty leaders, including eight whose stories are new to this edition. These interviews tell stories from a range of countries, including Singapore, Guyana, Korea, and Switzerland, and feature case studies from prominent firms such as DuPont, Alcoa, Novartis, and Cargill. A new chapter on problem-solving will help you apply questions to your toughest situations as a leader, and a new Questions for Reflection section at the end of each chapter will help you bring Marquardt's message into all of your work as a leader.

Now more than ever, Leading with Questions is the definitive guide for becoming a stronger leader by identifyingand askingthe right questions.

Introduction 1

Part I The Power of Questions

1 An Underused Management Tool 11

2 Benefits of a Questioning Culture 31

Part II Asking Questions Effectively

3 Why We Have Trouble with Questions 63

4 Asking the Right Questions 83

5 The Art of Asking Questions 103

6 Creating a Questioning Culture 129

Part III A Guide for Leaders on When and How to Ask Powerful Questions

7 Using Questions in Managing People 151

8 Using Questions to Build Teams 177

9 Using Questions to Solve Problems 199

10 Using Questions to Shape Strategy and Enable Change 213

Conclusion: Becoming a Questioning Leader 239

Resource A: Biographies of Leaders Interviewed 247

Resource B: Action Learning: A Powerful Training Program for Developing Questioning Leaders 255

Resource C: Resources for Training and Information on Questioning Leadership 271

Notes 275

Acknowledgments 283

About the Author 287

Index 291