20 Questions to Ask Other Leaders

Michael – I would be very interested in reading your answers to each of these questions. Maybe as a blog entry per answer and then encourage others to give their own responses. Can you imagine the collective resource that could become for organizational leadership? Pretty powerful potential – thank you Michael Smith for your excellent thought-provoking questions and your exemplary stewardship of your sabbatical – your congregation is blessed to have you as a leader!

These are wonderful questions! Very thoughtful and are the kind of questions that invite reflection. I will use these. Thanks for posting these.

Mr. Hyatt – These are great, thought-provoking questions, and I'm very interested to read your answers. Please let us know when Michael Smith posts them! I'm excited to read the answers from other leaders he's interviewed as well.

And on a general note, thank you for having the courage to blog. I've been reading (lurking) for a while now, and you continue to quietly inspire me.

Here's another question: Which book or books have influenced you the most?

Michael, I love this but you could make it better.
Video yourself answering the questions and post one answer each day to your blog.

Although I am not in the corporate world, I have had leadership positions both in parenting seven children and teaching high school students. I think every leader needs to be as patient as possible because the world is throwing so many obstacles and challenges at all of us right now. Also, the biggest mistake any leader can make is hypocrisy. I sincerely hope the days of "Do as I say and not as I do" are over–leaders need to lead by example.

And, for leaders who love God, their most important task is to ask Him for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

As an entrepreneur who is in the planning of a business this article inspired me. I am going to take this and use to learn about other leaders and how they are not only leaders in their company, but but innovators. Thanks for the great post!

I think you all have convinced me to try and answer each question in a separate blog post. I think this will be fun!

Good questions Michael. I really like the questions focused on values and culture. I would also ask: How do you manage your time and priorities? What does your strategic planning process look like? How do you balance pursuing opportunities and maintaining focus? What does your process look like for developing leaders? Good post!

These are great questions. The only problem I have is that a list like this may make it seem like you run down the list and then move on to something else. In real life and in the apprentice trade that is leadership, questioning, trying, and getting feedback are never-ending.

Just got to this post 3 weeks after everyone else! Can I add that along with hearing the leader's verbal account of him/herself I have found it tremendously valuable to actually tag along with another leader for a day and simply watch. Sometimes actions speak louder than words. I'm a very verbal learner but actually seeing another leader's attitude and approach in action – I have found that invaluable.

superb questions to ask ourselves. I will retweet.

These are fantastic! I would especially love to know how you answered #3. Did you ever do the video follow up to these as mentioned in the comments? If so, where can I find it? I'd love to see what you said.

No, I have never done it—but I need to. Thanks for the “vote.”