As the year winds down, many leaders are reflecting on what went well, what didn’t, and what needs to change in the year ahead. And often, they find themselves dealing with the same challenges over and over again. The same conversations, the same breakdowns in communication or follow-through, the same conflicts. It’s easy to assume that people just aren’t listening, or that they don’t care, but in my experience, the real issue isn’t a lack of effort from the team. It’s a lack of understanding.
Even when we have the best intentions to support our teams, if we rush to fix a problem by giving instructions or offering solutions, we miss the opportunity to learn what’s really getting in the way for people. The best leaders know they don’t have every answer ready to go, so they approach these situations with an open mind. They know how to ask the right questions to uncover the solution their team needs. Questions that open a window into how your team sees the work, where they’re getting stuck, and what support they actually need to succeed.
The key here is curiosity. To understand what’s creating the friction in the first place, you need to be willing to sit in uncertainty for a minute. Ask yourself, “What am I not seeing?” instead of “Why can’t they get this right?” It takes humility to ask questions that might challenge your own assumptions, and it takes practice to resist the instinct to jump straight to solutions.
If you’re thinking about how to lead differently in the new year, start there. Instead of repeating directions for the fifth time, pause and ask one thoughtful question. You may be surprised at what you learn and how much more smoothly things run when everyone understands one another.
