If you want good answers, you have to ask good questions. If you want compelling, potentially life or business changing answers, you have to ask huge questions. I refer to these, simply, as the “big questions.”
What are big questions? They’re questions that assault the status quo. They undermine preconceptions. They rattle you. They make you really dig deep. They require answers that provide new context.
Obviously, smart, high-performing people are required for any organization to be successful. We have a tendency to consider the recruiting, selection, performance and development of people within a group of very confining, incremental questions like “What does a good performance appraisal contain?” or “How do you conduct a counseling session with a poor performer?” Those are necessary questions to be sure, but they are derivative; they are not big questions. I believe that the following five, externally focused questions must be asked and answered for any organization to successfully leverage their most important resource.
Marinate in these questions and answer them in a detailed way. I believe that your human capital strategies will have a better shot at creating value.
Copyright 2012 Rand Golletz. All rights reserved.
Rand Golletz is the managing partner of Rand Golletz Performance Systems, a leadership development, executive coaching and consulting firm that works with senior corporate leaders and business owners on a wide range of issues, including interpersonal effectiveness, brand-building, sales management, strategy creation and implementation. For more information and to sign up for Rand’s free newsletter, The Real Deal, visit http://www.randgolletz.com.