Page 152 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

Focusing on Results 141

unconscious assumptions, and solving problems. That way you’ll not only
advance the work, but build relationships and help the people involved
learn and develop. Avoid becoming the leader who (perhaps out of their
own insecurity) asks review questions only to prove that they are the
smartest one in the room or to make someone squirm. Asking questions
well should actually have the opposite result: many of the best leaders
we’ve seen have an uncanny ability to engage in Socratic dialogue that
helps people reach their own conclusions about what can be done to im-
prove a plan or project or operation, which, of course, leads to much more
ownership and learning.
When in an operational review, first ask probing questions about the
team’s or individual’s current results, plans, and projects. What’s working
well? Where are you struggling and why? Has anything surprised you so
far? Where do you need help, guidance, fresh ideas, or resources? Asking
these questions not only teases out what’s really happening and what needs
to be done, but also gives you insight into your people.
Terra Firma CEO Andrew Géczy emphasized to us that sometimes his
questions force his people to think about the business differently. For
example, in his previous role at ANZ bank, his people served thirty-five
markets with many products, and he found that reviews were filled with
“big spreadsheets that didn’t address the issues.” He asked his operations
leaders instead to answer a few simple questions on one page: How hot is
the transaction engine running? What is our cost per transaction? What is
our aspiration for cost in three years? Over time, those questions converted
ANZ’s thinking about its operating platform and put the organization on a
path to delivering products to clients much more efficiently.
Don’t stop with just a review of the business unit itself, though. Move
on to questions about the broader context in which your team operates.
One of a leader’s most critical tasks is to help everyone connect their proj-
ects, results, and measures with the work of others so that they don’t look
at each individual issue or problem in isolation (remember the “team of
teams” discussion in chapter 3). Otherwise, the individuals on your team
will not recognize how their work might affect other projects or operations,
or how to prioritize various initiatives. Only the leader—who must think