I was fascinated by an article in Inc. titled "100 Great Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask." The magazine asked some of the leading CEOs and leaders around the nation what should we be asking of ourselves to grow and improve. It really got me to thinking. In fact, I've created a list for coaches that I will share tomorrow. But for today, here are a few of the questions from the article that resonated with me. You can catch all 100 here.
3. If energy were free, what would we do differently? -Tony Hsieh, CEO of ZapposHsieh explains, “This is a thought experiment to see how you would reconfigure the business if you had different resources available or knew that different resources would one day become available. Another question might be, what if storage was free? Or what if labor costs half as much or twice as much?”
4. What is it like to work for me? -Robert Sutton, author and management professor at Stanford
5. If we weren’t already in this business, would we enter it today? And if not, what are we going to do about it? -Peter Drucker, management expert and author
6. What trophy do we want on our mantle? - Marcy Massura, a digital marketer and brand strategist at MSL Group Massura explains, “Not every business determines success the same way. Is growth most important to you? Profitability? Stability?”
8. What counts that we are not counting? -Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality and head of global hospitality for Airbnb
11. What prevents me from making the changes I know will make me a more effective leader? -Marshall Goldsmith, leadership coach and author
12. What are the implications of this decision 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years from now? -Suzy Welch, author
13. Do I make eye contact 100 percent of the time? -Tom Peters, author and management expert
15. Are we changing as fast as the world around us? -Gary Hamel, author and management consultant
23. What one word do we want to own in the minds of our customers, employees, and partners? -Matthew May, author and innovation expert May explains, “This deceptively simple question creates utter clarity inside and outside a company. It is incredibly difficult for most people to answer and difficult to get consensus on--even at the highest levels. Apple = different. Toyota = quality. Google = search. It’s taken me three years to get one of my clients, Edmunds.com, to find and agree on their word: trust.”
24. What should we stop doing? -Peter Drucker, management expert and author
30. What do we stand for--and what are we against? -Scott Goodson, co-founder of StrawberryFrog
34. What did we miss in the interview for the worst hire we ever made? -Alberto Perlman, CEO of Zumba Fitness
35. Do we have the right people on the bus? -Jim Collins, author and management consultant
44. How can we become more high-tech but still be high touch? -James Champy
45. What do we need to start doing? -Jack Bergstrand, CEO, Brand Velocity
69. In the past year, what have you done (or could you have done) to increase the accurate perception of this company/brand as ethical and honest? -Robert Cialdini
70. To whom do you add value? -Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood, co-founders, The RBL Group
71. Why should people listen to you? -Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood
74. Are your clients Pepsi or Coke drinkers?” -Marcy Massura Massura explains: “This is a symbolic question that gets at how deeply you have researched your target clients. Business leaders can find out more about their customers than ever before thanks to the ability to collect data on a grand scale. Such detailed information allows the company to interact with targets in new ways and to assess current product development and marketing roadmaps.”
85. If you could go back in time five years, what decision would you make differently? What is your best guess as to what decision you're making today you might regret five years from now? -Patrick Lencioni
