Ducks in a Row: Empowerment Made Easy
by Miki Saxon
Want to empower your team (spouse, kids, friends, others)?
Try channeling billionaire Marc Benioff, cofounder and CEO of Salesforce.com.
When someone shares a problem, skip the advice.
Ask leading questions instead.
The kinds that help the person think through the effects, reactions and repercussions of proposed actions/solutions.
Questions that don’t include what/why/when/how you would do whatever.
The secret isn’t the questions, it’s the fact that Benioff isn’t directing the answers, isn’t even interested in having an opinion and getting his way. He’s also not interested in solving the problem for his employee.
Leading questions sans ego help clarify both the question and the answer.
Amazing how empowering interaction with an authority figure can be when that person gets off their dignity and doesn’t need to vest their own ego in the solution.
Flickr image credit: Rich Anderson
