“I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions,” Lou Holtz.
Last week I met with a younger person who requested a meeting to ask me a few extremely thoughtful questions. Learning to ask good questions is one of the highest return activities that you can engage in. I will take someone that asks thoughtful questions over a solid resume any day of the week. Here are a few thoughts on why asking good questions is such a powerful skill set:
- Asking thoughtful questions shows a willingness to learn and a strong desire to learn. It shows that you are engaged and hungry to grow.
- Asking questions is the best way to let the other party know that you understand them and you care about their opinion. Once people feel understood it is much easier to build a trusting relationship. A good sales person asks enough questions to discover how they can add value, a phony sales person just runs their mouth about how great they are.
- Asking questions is free. The only risk in asking a question is that the other person may not answer. The potential upside is that you can gain extreme insight in a few seconds that took someone else years of experience to learn.
- Get over the fear of asking. Many people believe the fallacy that they will be perceived as “not smart” if they openly ask a question. In reality it is quite the opposite.
My grandfather always told me that “You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Don’t be yapping when you should be tuned in.” I encourage you to be more intentional about asking thoughtful questions.