Leadership Approaches – Leading With Questions

LEADING WITH QUESTIONS

Part of the following ministry resources: Christian Leadership, Empowerment, Transformational Leadership.

Clearly one of the most important features of transformational leadership and empowerment is stimulating others by questioning assumptions, reframing problems, and approaching old situations in new ways. Leaders empower others when they encourage questions and model the way by framing thought-provoking inquiries at all levels in the organization.

This is no less true for church leaders. As the section on leadership and organizational culture suggests, groups often shield themselves from the truth by disallowing questions and resisting learning. This is echoed in most of the literature on church leadership and renewal. Also, church leaders often exercise their influence in subordinate roles, and questions are helpful in such contexts.

The following ministry resources, while written for business and other life contexts, discuss the theory and skills of good questioning, and suggest several questions that can be adapted to Christian ministry situations.

Michael J. Marquardt, Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing What to Ask — Perhaps the best on the subject, especially in Parts Two and Three that discuss practical ways to create questioning cultures.
Andrew Sobel and Jerold Panas, Power Questions: Build Relationships, Win New Business, and Influence Others – Lists over 600 questions, helpfully categorized according to virtually any purpose and setting faced by leaders.
Tony Stoltzfus, Coaching Questions: A Coaches Guide to Powerful Asking Skill — Includes over 1,200 questions to use in a variety of coaching areas.

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Related Ministry Resources

See Other Ministry Resources on Christian Leadership:

Christian Leadership, Index to Ministry Resources

See Related Ministry Resources:

See Resources on Over 100 Areas of Christian Ministry:

Ministry Resources for Church Leaders – Index

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