Sean Glaze says effective leaders ask two kinds of questions: internal ones that prompt self-examination, like "How can I help my people achieve their goals?", and external ones that solicit feedback from others. Internal reflection alone isn't enough; it must pair with active listening to truly understand people.
See, effective leaders stay sincerely curious, and then they listen to understand. Turns out sincere curiosity improves your awareness, improves your stories, and drives better behaviors. Specifically, there are two kinds of questions I would love to encourage you to ask. The first are reflection questions. That's when you're curious internally, you're asking yourself. The second would be feedback requests. Feedback requests are when you're curious externally, when you're asking others for opportunities to improve. Now, reflection questions, those internal curious moments— reflection questions might sound like this: How can I help my people achieve their goals? What part of my leadership led to that outcome? What might be going on from their perspective? And while internal reflection is essential, it's never sufficient.
