The Power of Questions

Powerful questions are the backbone of effective coaching.

As a coach, I experienced this much earlier in my leadership development career. Even better, this happened while I led the design of an organizational coaching program.

The stakes were high, the deadline loomed. Project success hinged upon high-quality and timely contributions from the consulting team, each of whom was a coach.

I pushed the team on weekly status calls, reiterating the importance of the high-profile project for our top client and the need for speed.

Apparently, I pushed too hard. One team member asked for some catch-up time with me. She didn’t mince words. The team members were doing their best, she said. They were each juggling multiple projects and did not appreciate my forceful approach.

I pushed back, emphasizing the urgency of the project and delighting the client.

We lobbed opposing viewpoints back and forth, until my colleague asked me a question that I will always remember.

“Are you getting the results you want?!”

Her question stopped me in my tracks. No, I told myself – I’m not!

This colleague was an experienced coach, no surprise. She knew how to use skillful questions to disarm me. She helped me step out of my own resistance and focus on the primary goal: Project success.

Suddenly, my cognitive and emotional energy was redirected away from the friction with the project team. I quickly accepted the reality that I needed the team’s full engagement to lead the project across the finish line.

This interaction and the resulting insights were a catalyst for me adopting a more conciliatory and appreciative approach. The project launched on time and ended up being heralded as one of the client’s top human resource initiatives that year.

So, why are questions so powerful in the coaching dialogue? There are many reasons 

Great questions serve as a pattern interrupt. They can break “doom loop” thinking.

Powerful questions refocus a client on what matters – such as their overarching goal.

Questions invite a client to take stock of and share their own point of view and what actions they could take, rather than adopt a passive role with little or no agency.

On the level of brain science, the right question can bring out the best in you.

An open-ended question framed with genuine curiosity can calm the amygdala, the brain’s “fight-or-flight” mechanism, and activate the prefrontal cortex, the brain region best suited to tackling complex problem solving and creativity.

Neurochemical responses – positive and negative – are also triggered by questions. When a question feels presumptuous or judgmental, it may prompt the release of cortisol, the stress hormone that can elevate heart disease risk and lower immunities.

Questions asked in the spirit of helpfulness, on the other hand, can foster release of dopamine, which can increase motivation, and serotonin, which promotes calmness and stability.

So, if you are a coach – bring on the great questions!

If you are being coached, listen up! Answering those questions can lead you to the success you desire.