Good morning and welcome to the Increasing Re Impact Podcast. I'm Justin Sua, episode

2007. As a leader, and I'm talking about you, one of the most powerful tools you have

isn't giving answers. It's asking questions. And we've talked about it many times before that

if you want better answers, ask better questions. And I'm not talking about quick yes

or no questions. I mean, real open-ended questions that really get to the heart of the matter

and allow you to listen to and to pull information out of a person that you wouldn't know

unless they disclosed it to you. Questions like,

what do you see as your biggest challenge? Or what's your take on how we should handle this? Or

what you talk to me about or walk me through your process on your decision making? And why this is so

important is because that even the research shows that when you ask open-ended

questions, people feel more valued and involved. Studies shown by there's this expert,

a researcher named Deborah Tannen. She found that open-ended questions create trust,

spark better ideas, and make people feel more

invested in the outcome. It's not just about getting their input, just to get their input.

It's about teaching the people you lead to think critically, work collaboratively,

and think out loud. So instead of walking into a situation, if you're the

leader and saying, hey, this is what we're going to do, ask what do you think we should do?

Or what are y'all's opinion on what we should do? And that small, tiny shift makes a huge difference because it shows

your team that you trust them and that their voice matters. And when people feel heard,

they're going to bring their best ideas to the table. And someone's going to come up with something

that you may not have thought about because it's coming from their perspective. And the research shows it,

open-ended questions, build stronger teams, and you get better results. And so my invitation to you

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