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Books Questions

Ryan Leak teaches you how to ask the right questions (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

By Tyler Hummel Leaders Staff

Tyler Hummel

Tyler Hummel

Tyler Hummel is a news writer for Leaders Media. He was the Fall 2021 College Fix Fellow and Health Care...

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Nov 30, 2022

Learning To Ask the Right Questions 

The Problem 

Becoming a good leader is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight but one must learn what it takes through experience. You need to take control of your own growth and development in order to improve as a leader. That doesn’t mean you have to know everything though.

As executive coach Ryan Leak says, becoming a leader is about learning what questions to ask and when—not about having all of the right answers. 

In his new book Leveling Up: 12 Questions To Elevate Your Personal And Professional Development, Leak explores issues like self-awareness, teamwork, transparency, and vision and addresses strategies that will help develop and grow as a leader.   

“Being a great leader is not about having all the answers but asking the right questions—and that starts with careful introspection and inviting others to tell you what they see in you. Leveling Up helps you focus on the person you’re becoming and think about the goals you want to accomplish,” says the publisher. 

Backing up a Bit 

Ryan Leak has worked as a filmmaker on two documentaries—The Surprise Wedding and Chasing Failure—in addition to his work as an author and public speaker. He has spent most of his life in the church and Corporate America and has the experience to address leadership issues in faith and business alike. 

He works on the teaching teams of five different churches and speaking engagements regularly address hundreds of thousands of people per year. 

Possible Solutions 

By learning how to address others through your questions, Leak says that you discover answers about yourself and others that guide you and others in the right direction. Focusing on the person you are growing into and learning to lead yourself will develop the skills you need to be a proper leader for others. 

“We’ve all worked for the leader who did not know what it was like to be on the other side of their emails, on the other side of their reply-alls, on the other side of their scheduling, and on the other side of their rants. We all have to ask this question. ‘What’s it like to be on the other side of my leadership, my parenting, being married to me?’” says Leak. 

Leveling Up: 12 Questions To Elevate Your Personal And Professional Development will be published on December 6, 2022, by Thomas Nelson.

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