Transparency: Ask The 4 Magical Questions

This the third of several postings this week regarding my new, just-released book: The Transparent Leader: Clear and Effective Leadership Communication.

Ask The 4 Magical Questions

I’m not sure of the origins of these four questions, which consultants have used perhaps since the beginning of self-reflection. I call them magical questions because they elicit such amazing answers, no matter what the issue. So here are the four magical questions:

1. What are we currently doing well (regarding a particular issue or function) that we should CONTINUE to do to be successful?

2. What are we currently doing that we should STOP doing to be even more successful?

3. What are we currently not doing that we should START doing to be even more successful?

4. Is there ANYTHING ELSE relating to this topic you’d like to tell me about this issue that I didn’t ask you?

In my experience, these four questions are great to ask if you want 360 feedback about any person, function, or issue that you want to assess and improve. The topic does not matter — these magical questions not only get to the core issues quickly, but they also do so while first honoring what people are doing right. This is why the first question is always: What are we currently doing well that we should CONTINUE to do to be successful?

Give it a try.