Product Description

In Leading with Questions, internationally acclaimed management consultant Michael Marquardt shows how you can learn to ask the powerful questions that will generate short–term results and long–term learning and success. Throughout the book, he demonstrates how effective leaders use questions to encourage participation and teamwork, foster outside–the–box thinking, empower others, build relationships with customers, solve problems, and much more. Based on interviews with twenty–two successful leaders who “lead with questions,” this important book reveals how to determine which questions will lead to solutions in today’s complicated business world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20278 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-23
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Synopsis
In "Leading with Questions", internationally acclaimed management consultant Michael Marquardt shows how you can learn to ask the powerful questions that will generate short-term results and long-term learning and success. Throughout the book, he demonstrates how effective leaders use questions to encourage participation and teamwork, foster outside-the-box thinking, empower others, build relationships with customers, solve problems, and much more. Based on interviews with twenty-two successful leaders who "lead with questions," this important book reveals how to determine which questions will lead to solutions in today's complicated business world.

From the Inside Flap
Leading with Questions

"Change begins with inquiry, and Leading with Questions jump–starts the process with its practical approach for leaders who want to develop and ask questions that provoke reflection, get meaningful information, and initiate action."
—Martin B. Kormanik, president and CEO, O.D. Systems

Do people give you the information you need to perform well? Does everyone in your organization understand your vision for the future? Do you know what your boss is really thinking? In a study from the Center for Creative Leadership it was discovered that the ultimate key to successful leadership was an executive′s ability to ask questions and create opportunities for others to ask questions.

In Leading with Questions, internationally acclaimed management consultant Michael Marquardt shows how you can learn to ask the powerful questions that will generate short–term results and long–term learning and success. Throughout the book, he demonstrates how effective leaders use questions to encourage participation and teamwork, foster outside–the–box thinking, empower others, build relationships with customers, solve problems, and much more. Based on interviews with twenty–two successful leaders who "lead with questions," this important book reveals how to determine which questions will lead to solutions in today′s complicated business world.

Marquardt reveals the stumbling blocks that can get in the way of effective questioning and outlines a variety of strategies for learning to ask questions that will get results. Step–by–step, he walks you through the process of learning the art of questioning and shows how to use the techniques of active listening and follow–up. In addition, he presents guidelines for using questions in myriad situations with individuals, teams, and organizations.

Leading with Questions is your guide for understanding when, how, why, and where to lead with questions. Questioning leaders from DuPont, Alcoa, Novartis, and Cargill will show by example how to become a great leader who asks great questions.

From the Back Cover
Praise for Leading with Questions

"In Leading with Questions, Michael Marquardt maps the future of leadership. ′The leader of the past was a person who told,′ Peter Drucker once said. ′The leader of the future will be a person who asks.′ Read this book if you want to see the future."
—Robert Kramer, director, executive education programs, American University

"Through the rich stories of the organizational leaders who lead with questions, Marquardt offers a wonderful tool to enable organizations to creatively transform the status quo and generate a corporate culture that succeeds!"
—Mary Tomasello, vice president, organization development and human resources, Reynolds Food Packaging

"Marquardt presents a questioning technique that works and will enable leaders to grow from being good to being great."
—Lisa M. Toppin, director, human resources, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.

"A brilliantly written, indispensable guide to help us each find our unique path through the art of asking questions."
—Debra Gmelin, corporate director, the Leadership Institute, Humana, Inc.

"Our company was recently recognized by Forbes magazine as the #1 retail company in America. Our approach to leadership—from our CEO to our frontline managers—follows the approach explained in Leading with Questions. This book is a practical guide for anyone—at any leadership level, in any company—to follow to become more effective in leading others."
—Doug Bryant, vice president, organizational development and training, Advance Auto Parts

"I have learned that leadership is not about knowing all the answers. It′s about knowing what great questions to ask, and carefully listening to those answers. This book is a timely piece of management wisdom that shows leaders how to ask great questions—questions that inspire, motivate, and empower the organization."
—Patrick Thng, managing director, Development Bank of Singapore

Customer Reviews

A question not asked, is a door not opened. Great book -penetrating insights.
The author draws on a wide range of relevant and up to date material, and provides plenty of practical/organisational examples. To make a strong case for using questions, to improve individual/team and organisational performance.

A good example of the content is to be found on page 66. This is a summary of the benefits of asking "great" questions:

* Cause the person to focus and stretch.
* Create deep reflection.
* Challenge taken for granted assumptions that prevent people from acting in new and forceful ways.
* Generate strength and courage.
* Lead to breakthrough thinking.
* Contain the keys that open the door to great solutions.
* Enable people to better see the situation.
* Open doors in the mind and get people to think more deeply.
* Test assumptions and cause individuals to explore why they act in the way they do, as well as why they choose to take action.
* Create positive and purposeful action.

The book is especially strong on the use of questions in coaching/developing teams and action learning.

John Kotter, perhaps one of the most widely quoted experts on the subject of leadership. Writes that the primary difference between leaders and managers is that leaders are those who ask the right questions whereas managers are those tasked to answer these questions. Asking the right questions enables leaders to discover what is the right thing to do; answering them allows managers to do the right thing.

In summary the importance and power of leading with with questions is the theme of this book. It will certainly be a resource I refer to frequently.

Stan Felstead - Interchange Resources UK.

Creating a Questioning Culture for Powerful Results
"Asking rather than telling, questions rather than answers, has become the key to leadership excellence and success in the twenty-first century." That, in a nutshell, is the premise of this book. Marquardt who has taught and written extensively on action learning shares the wisdom of leading with questions.

The book is divided into three sections: The Power of Questions; Asking Questions Effectively; and A Guide for Leaders of Using Questions. Throughout the book the author uses quotes from interviews of top business leaders about their use of questions.

The Power of Questions begins with examples of disasters such as the sinking of Titanic, the explosion of the Challenger spacecraft, and the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. All disasters where the cause is attributed to a lack of questioning. Chapter 2 is a stirring recital of the benefits of questions. Questions open up perspectives, new learning, greater team work, create an empowering environment, help people gain a voice, increases listening, innovation, while reducing conflicts. It sounds like a miracle drug! Except that it's true. Questions are at the core of my business and I can attest to their transformational power!

The second part of the book is the strongest. It's the "how to" section on forming questions that will achieve all the benefits mentioned earlier. The author goes beyond simply giving lists of good questions (as some other books on questions do) and teaches you how to actually form a powerful question. Good questions he says are, "those that accomplish their purpose as well as build a positive relationship between the questioner and the questionee." He gives plenty of tips how to do this. He also addresses hinderances such as a judging or blame mentality.

The final section of the book puts questions into practice in various settings such as supervision, problem solving, and team building. Each chapter covers a different setting with 10-20 key questions and how to use them effectively.

Leading with questions is one of those skills where you think, "Yes, I want to be this way. Help me do it!" Leading with questions is a skill that requires breaking old habits and forming new more productive ones. Are you ready to increase your learning? Are you ready to tap into the potential of the people around you? Are you ready to make breakthroughs and create innovations? Then questions are for you!

What are you waiting for?