Leadership is an equation. It’s not a mandate. It’s a dynamic exchange with two sides. Given a moment’s thought, most of us would nod in agreement. Yet leaders forget the facts of this balancing act with shocking frequency and resultant pain.
Stripped down to its essence, here’s how the equation works. On one side, a team simply cannot deliver without clear direction from its leader as to the where, the how, and the to what end. On the balancing side, no leader can succeed without a closely aligned team. Yet this simple equation all too frequently gets obscured, even if unintentionally. Why that happens is a good question. The better question for you as a leader is: How do I change that? The answer turns out to be surprisingly simple. All you need to do is incorporate two new practices in your leadership playbook.
The practice of balancing “why” with “because”
No matter what kind of leader you are, there’s a good chance you ask a lot of whys. Why are we off budget? Why didn’t we see that competitive threat sooner? Why didn’t you understand what I wanted you to do? Without a doubt, “why” is a good question. It’s also a question that needs balance, and that balance is offering more “because.”
Pan back for a moment and you’ll see the obvious yet overlooked: Organizations, and more accurately the people who compose them, do what they do in reference to a purpose. Leaders can provide that purpose and often attempt to do so. But what’s more important is for you, the leader, to provide clarity. Clarity gives a life purpose. Actively and openly applying it in context gives it direction. All of it makes purpose more than just a statement. It gives meaning to the purpose, demonstrates why it matters and raises the odds that any actions taken under it will be aligned. Absent these and other forms of “because,” purpose has a habit of wandering. Absent clarity, people begin to provide their own reasons for doing what they do. The practice of offering “because” makes a purpose active and collective. It moves it toward something shared, too. Asking “What are your questions?” after offering a healthy dose of “because” cinches collective purpose.
The practice of asking, “What are your questions?”
Only offering more “because” has limits. It addresses only the you-the-leader side of the leadership equation. By itself, the practice of “because” is simply telling; it’s not collaborating. By itself, there’s no invitation or incentive for others to make it their own. True ownership needs an invitation, and a very specific kind. It needs the invitation to ask.
When they do offer it, the standard way leaders invite is by asking the tried and true, “Are there any questions?” The harsh truth is that most often it’s an invitation dead on arrival. Phrased this way, it’s a perfunctory question, rather than a genuine and open one asking for contribution. Worse, at times it’s a question regarded not as an invitation but a test. It’s heard as “Did you listen to me and are you with me?” instead of as an authentic offer to seek clarification, to add or perhaps even to give a challenge.
When you instead ask, “What are your questions?” you empower your organization. With just the slightest word change, you convey not simply that you are inviting me to ask, but are empowering me to ask, expecting me to ask. By such a practice, you convey a desire for us to shape purpose together, actively making it something we co-own. It shifts culture to automatically acknowledge that team members have questions and then ask what they are. It changes to nothing short of a competitive advantage. It becomes a culture of leadership, one in which each of us has a stake and a part to play.
The impact of these two practices is nothing short of powerful. It’s also simple to gain, and fully within the abilities of any leader to employ.
