Michael Bungay Stanier

When approached with an issue, most of us instinctively respond with doling out advice. We assume that people want to use our expertise. However, many of the best leaders have a different response: curiosity about the other person. They ask questions to empower the people around them to make better decisions. After all, the question-askers are the ones closest to the issues, not the one being questioned. In this book, Michael Bungay Stanier seeks to reorient leaders towards this approach of empowerment so that they can lead more effectively.

Asking questions develops the human component of the situation better instead of merely providing a “quick fix.” This approach doesn’t fit every situation, but it does help most of them. He explores how to change habits and then specific questions that can approach problems with this attitude of curiosity. These questions are not merely imagined but are practically based on seminars that he leads. The questions are frankly good and worth meditating on. I use some of them already, but others – like “What did you learn from this?” – are ones that I hope to adopt in my life soon. They apply not only to business situations, but also to life more generally.

The main limitation of this book is its brevity. It identifies key questions well, and it contains some deeper digressions into empirical research behind their effectiveness. Those are interesting and good, but I wanted still more depth, whether in the form of anecdotes, more research, or something else. I’m not sure where I’d suggest that the author go, but each question needed more fleshing out in my judgment. I’d cut some of the marketing hype in the text and expand it with better expansion of the ideas.

This book addresses primarily leaders in the workplace, but these questions also apply to those who want to improve the quality of interpersonal interactions in their personal life. Effective listening is an art disappearing in American life. We can broadcast and market ourselves all the time, but it takes skill to use others’ broadcasting to achieve important goals. Reading books like these to bring out others’ best effort can distinguish the next generation of leaders. It can even give them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.… (more)