Which Do You Have: Questions, or Answers?

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Photo from Unsplash by Lucrezia Carnelos

 

It feels so strange to use this phrase, but… just after the turn of the century, I was involved in Sandler Sales Training with a great guy named Rich Levinson.

One of the major tenets of the Sandler System is learning to ask open-ended questions – questions that require an actual sentence or two, or maybe even an entire paragraph, to answer.  Rich was the mentor I needed to get my business booming.

Some years later, I started working with Barry Demp, Master Certified Coach and the brains behind The Quotable Coach blog series. Barry also stresses the value of appropriate questioning. I’ve learned a great deal from interacting with him, and deeply value the relationship we have created over the years.

It was Barry who turned me on to Michael Bungay Stainer, founder of BoxofCrayons.com, and author of a great article I just read titled “Three Unexpected Reasons Why People Don’t Ask Questions.”

Go take a look, then consider these question:

  1. Which of the Three Advice Monsters has had the most influence in your life?
  2. What can and will you do today to lessen their influence in your life?
  3. How do you respond to questions for which you have no answer?

Make your Day Magnificent!