My husband and I joke that his parents ask too many questions.

Dinner with them keeps me on my toes, for sure. But I’m often grateful for the clarity their pokes and prods elicit.

I feel clarity because they know how to ask artful questions.

An artful question is a question that makes your audience think about something in a new light.

It’s not “What did you do?” It’s “How did that make you feel?”

It’s not “Why did you do that?” It’s “Is that in alignment with what you value?”

Artful questions aren’t in service of the asker. Artful questions are in service of the askee.

As a leader, it’s not enough merely to ask questions, you must do so artfully!

Leadership