Page 59 - Appreciative Leadership

32 Appreciative Leadership

their heart rate speeds up, they flush, and they feel stressed. Th e con-

sultant’s question about stress has influenced what people remem-
ber, what they talk about, and how they feel. But it does not stop
there. After their interviews, as team members engage in informal

conversations with one another, they ask, “How did your interview
go?” Once again, they retell their stories of stress in the workplace
and reexperience the somatic tension. By this time they are in full
agreement that there is a lot of stress in their workplace, and even the
interview process was stressful!
Your topic of study—in this case, “stress in the workplace”—infl u-
enced what people recalled, how they felt, and what they talked about
with each other. This is what we call the inner dialogue of the organiza-

tion. Imagine now the memories, the stories, the lingering feelings,
and the relational bonds that might form if, instead, you were inter-
ested in and chose to study “joyful productivity.”
Appreciative leaders choose the topics of their questions carefully
and strategically. Recognizing that the questions they ask are fateful,
they use questions to set the agenda for formal and informal conver-
sations throughout the organization. On a daily basis, the topics they
choose and the questions they ask invite members of their organiza-
tion to focus upon, talk about, learn about, and act on best practices,
strengths, and successes.
Remember: what you ask about is what people learn about; what
people learn about is what they know; what they know is what they
can do. Powerful questions lead to powerful performance.

Put Your Values in Your Questions

As you have learned, appreciative questions are directed questions.

They are not neutral. They are purposefully focused on what you want
yourself and others to learn about and do well. They are tools for learn-

ing and performance management. The simplest and most productive

way to direct your appreciative questions—and in turn, the learning
and performance of people around you—is to base them on your core
leadership values. For example, Amanda gets great satisfaction and