If you were to name only one essential skill in business, what would it be?

Quick - name 3 essential skills that you would need either as a pre-startup founder, or CEO of a growing company.

Did your list include the following:

• lead
• sell
• solve problems
• listen
• build relationships

What one skill would you need to sharpen or develop, to be great at all of the above?

My vote is to be able to ask questions.

Questions help get to the heart of an issue or a person.

Questions can help build relationships. Listening and questions help build trust.To be able to listen, do we need to encourage another by asking questions?

Questions help build empathy and demonstrate understanding of what someone else is going thru. Have you ever noticed the tendency in ourselves or others to come to a conclusion to quickly or "label" someone's behavior and "box" them into a category. Once that "box" settles - we tend to limit the degree of freedom we have in our interactions. Have you ever labelled someone as "smart" or "judgmental" or "slow" or ....? You get the picture. :-)  Asking questions vs coming to conclusions help "open the pathways" or widen the lanes to develop a different relationship. Sometimes we do it so quickly that a simple question like " How can I help?" can change the whole relationship dynamic.

Questions help you empower and coach.

Questions empower your employees to take initiative, think through a solution and act decisively.
If you have employees waiting for you to decide, or staring blankly back at you while you race through scenarios on your own, it will be a challenge to grow your business.

Asking questions help draw out competence and potential that is not immediately obvious if you were just giving instructions to someone. It also shows someone you are open to a collaborative vs a uni directional relationship as in " What would you do if you were in my shoes and why",  "what do you see as a solution?" "What is the best way to work on this together?"

Questions can help you increase your income, build your influence

In business asking questions is essential to the sales process, how often have you heard "telling is not selling"? Entrepreneurs have to sell their ideas, vision, product or service offering and recruit talent. Think of the last big sale you closed. Did the buyer or client readily and happily share with you everything that you need to know to help them buy from you ?  Or were you too busy pitching your slides and showing off all the features without a clue as to why they buy?

Skills that make an entrepreneur, Harvard Business Review Dec, 2012

Questions catalyze the problem solving process. It is an initial starting point to "defining the problem to solve". Defining a problem and building agreement seems tedious, but think of how many times we go down a path in the "rush to action" - by jumping in to solve a problem that actually was not the real problem to solve. Has that happened to you or your team?

Ever notice meetings that jump to "how to" way before "why to or what to" is adequately satisfied?

How did that turn out?

Asking open ended questions helps me mentally to "get out of the box" It initiates the creative process and gives my imagination to come out to play. e.g. " Where is the hidden opportunity in this problem ?"
Asking questions helps me focus....when it is time to shift out of creative mode and into priorities and budgets and actionable solutions.


What are your 3 favorite questions in the following situations?

• Problem solving
• Sales conversation
• Arguments
• Coaching.
• Networking
• Performance review
• Interviews