Leading With Questions

Steven WeberBlog, Connect Better, Engage Better, Lead Better, Manage Better, Reflect Better

TL;DR:

  • Many meetings are not so much a dialogue as a monologue.
  • When you plan a meeting, ask yourself what the purpose is.
  • Lead with questions and know the right questions to ask.
  • Do teachers have a seat at a meeting or a seat and a voice?

Moving from Monologues to Dialogues

Questions provide the opportunity for dialogue. Unfortunately, many faculty meetings and district leadership team meetings are a monologue. School Administrators typically create a meeting agenda with desired outcomes, updates, data, and resources. While covering the meeting agenda topics, it is easy to overlook that attendees are colleagues, rather than an audience. One common error made by administrators is not allowing problem-solving, critical thinking, or collaboration in meetings. In classrooms, we may call this ‘Sit-N-Get.’  

Reflect on the last meeting you attended as a teacher or administrator. What was the balance between compliance and contribution? When leaders ask questions, we invite our colleagues and other meeting attendees to contribute throughout the meeting. Several school meetings are designed to deliver information to meeting attendees. When you plan a meeting ask yourself: Is the purpose of this meeting to deliver a keynote presentation or embrace the collective genius represented by the leaders in the room?

When leaders ask questions, we invite our colleagues and other meeting attendees to contribute throughout the meeting. Click To Tweet

Know the Right Questions

The following questions will give your co-workers a platform to reflect and contribute. Meeting agendas may not include each of these questions, but the power of questions is evident by reflecting on the Ten Types of Questions. Mark Sanborn (2009) wrote, “In the past, leaders were those who knew the right answers. Today, leaders are those who know the right questions.”

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Ten Types of Questions

  1. Direction: Where are we now? Where are we going? How will we get there?
  2. Continuous Improvement: What is one action you could take that would have a high impact on student understanding?
  3. Collaboration: How will our school or grade level look different in three months as a result of our collective actions?
  4. Barriers: What is the biggest roadblock you face in your role as a teacher or administrator?
  5. Evidence: What evidence will we provide to show that we are making progress or exceeding the established goals?
  6. Ownership: What are our Collective Commitments related to teaching and learning?
  7. Winning: What are the small wins we are aiming for?
  8. Hard Conversations: Do we have hard conversations when we see inequity in our school or when we are not seeing student growth?
  9. Partnerships: Who are we partnering with to support our students, families, and school?
  10. Reflection: What is one highlight that my students or I experienced since our last meeting?

Reflection

There may be multiple presenters at a meeting, but little reflection or problem-solving takes place. “Effective questions, [versus presentations] lead to effective action; ineffective or neglected questions result in detours, missed goals, and costly mistakes” (Marquardt, 2005, p.167). A leader’s role is to equip and empower. When the meeting agenda communicates that the leader has all the answers, it may cause the participants to disengage, disrupt, and become disgruntled. 

Educators often ask for a seat at the table, because the meetings they attend provide them with a seat without a voice. How can you revise your meeting agenda to include questions? Safir (2017) defines a Listening Leader as someone who “lead[s] with questions more than answers, and they demonstrate care, curiosity, and regard for every person who crosses their path” (p. xxvii). Embrace the power of questions and empower your team to become active participants.  

References

Marquardt, M. (2005). Leading with questions: How leaders find the right solutions by knowing what to ask. Jossey-Bass.

Safir, S. (2017). The listening leader: Creating the conditions for equitable school transformation. Jossey-Bass.

Sanborn, M. (2009). Quotes to inspire extraordinary leadership & remarkable performance. Retrieved from https://marksanborn.com/blog/2009/11/09/quotes-to-inspire-extraordinary-leadership-remarkable-performance/. 

About Steven Weber

Dr. Steven Weber is the Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning with Fayetteville Public Schools (AR). His areas of research include curriculum design, formative assessment, professional learning, and school leadership.