Posted by: Hal Alpiar, www.halalpiar.com
If you’re not asking a lot of questions, listening hard, and taking notes, every day, all day, you are not an effective leader. Period.
Interviews are not just for HR people – new hires and downsizing exits. Interview techniques have a valuable place in literally every business setting and situation . . . and with every customer encounter. (Note: Truly professional salespeople “interview” instead of “pitch.”)
The rule of thumb for actionable, authentic and meaningful leadership starts with these 10 steps:
- Ask questions.
- Listen carefully to the answers without interruption (except to clarify).
- Take notes.
- Ask more questions. Ask for examples.
- Listen more carefully.
- Take more notes.
- Ask follow-up questions. Ask for more examples.
- Keep listening.
- Keep taking notes.
- Assess. Evaluate. Decide on direction.
When you can move from preliminary “warm-up” questions to the next level, you start to get into the meat of your interview, and that—like the first couple of steps out of the runner’s starting block—sets the tone.
Making the most of what you learn (#10) is the next most important step.
Top writers, reporters and PR people piece the puzzle together and sprinkle in their own storytelling styles to arrive at presentations that engage their readers, viewers, listeners and site visitors.
Top sales professionals ask lots of questions and listen intently to the answers they get. They know instinctively to listen 80% of the time and speak 20%.
Top performing managers apply the assessments they arrive at—from questioning, listening, and note taking—to better motivate and lead with maximum effectiveness.
“9-to-5” mindset managers are too busy talking and putting out fires to care about or heed what others think and say. These people are, in essence, invested in maintaining the status quo.
Lecture from my mother: “You can’t turn this more productive attitude on like a water faucet until you’re willing to stop pretending that you know it all. You don’t, you know. You may have been CEO for 30 years, but that gives you only a slight edge in experience, and some minor license to exercise what you DO know.” (Mom always was pretty savvy!)
The reality of today’s flash global communications means that leaders cannot cling to old stuff anymore and wave it like a banner of accomplishment. The only way to stay on top of your game is to continually:
- Read.
- Surf the web.
- Interview others.
Only smart people ask questions.
Only smart people listen carefully and actively (with verbal acknowledgements and nods of the head, with confirming hand gestures and body language.
Only smart people take notes that they can decipher later and transform into meaningful analysis.
But it all starts with asking questions. What’s your favorite question? (Mine? I like to ask: “If I understand you correctly to mean . . . (insert a paraphrase here of what I think I just heard) . . . is that correct?” I like this question because it’s a checkpoint that helps ensure clear communications, facilitate productive discussion and use of time, and keep exchanges on topic.
Doctors do a diagnostic work-up and base their examinations, diagnoses, treatments and prognosis on what they learn from answers to the questions they (or that their staffs or questionnaire forms) ask.
Interviews!
The answers provided serve to direct the focus of attention and call the doctor’s interpretation skills into play.
What’s so different about interviewing a customer, employee, investor, referrer, supplier, associate? What are surveys for? Focus groups?
In your leadership position, if you find yourself talking more lately (and necessarily listening less), you may want to take a hard listen to your SELF and decide if you might be starting to sound too much like the object of my mother’s lecture.
Know-it-alls make lousy leaders.
The best quick fix is to start interviewing and listening and note taking more. Approach others as if you were a leading journalist on assignment to get to the heart of what they think. What have you got to lose? (Now, THERE’s a question, right?)
I have a similar mother. She used to say to me
"When the good lord was handing out brains where were you? Getting a second helping of mouth?"
I think the sentiment was the same.
Posted by: James Lawther | April 27, 2011 at 12:35 AM