Success Starts With Better Questions
Updated: Jul 9
Hello, it’s Sarah here, Founder of We Love Leadership. I hope that you’re having a good week.
Most leaders are under pressure. Pressure to make decisions quickly. Pressure to solve problems. Pressure to move forward, deliver results and keep everything moving.
In that environment, it is easy to become focused on activity rather than the quality of thinking that enables real productivity. We often move straight to solving problems and finding solutions before we have fully understood the challenge in front of us.
I have worked with leaders, teams and organisations for many years, and one of the most common barriers to success is not a lack of capability. It is a lack of clarity and follow-through.
When we lack clarity, we can become busy yet ineffective. We can work incredibly hard while moving in the wrong direction. We can implement solutions that address symptoms rather than the root causes.
When follow-through is lacking, even the best plans can lose momentum before they translate into meaningful change. This is one reason many organisations experience what is often called the strategy-execution gap. Research cited by Harvard Business School Online notes that, according to Robert Kaplan, 90 per cent of organisations fail to execute their strategies successfully.
To change this, sustainable success rarely starts with finding better answers. It starts with asking better questions.
Questions such as:
What are we really trying to achieve?
Why does it matter?
What is actually happening right now?
What assumptions are we making?
What are we not seeing?
What might we need to do differently?
Who needs to be engaged, and what support do they need to make this work?
The quality of our thinking shapes the quality of our decisions. The quality of our decisions shapes the quality of our outcomes.
Yet, because we want to make things happen quickly and often with good intentions, many of us do not place enough value on the time required to gain genuine understanding.
In an increasingly complex world, clarity and follow-through have become competitive advantages.
The most effective leaders are not necessarily those with all the answers. They are often the leaders who remain curious for longer, challenge assumptions more thoughtfully, create space for reflection before action, and establish a regular rhythm of reviewing progress, celebrating success and learning continuously.
Progress matters. Action matters. Results matter.
But clarity usually comes first. Following through on your plan is what turns that clarity into progress, accountability and measurable impact.
Because when we truly understand where we want to go, where we are today, and what we’re learning as we go, everything else becomes easier. Perhaps the most important question for any leader is this:
Reflection
What would become possible if you slowed down just enough to ask better questions?
Let me know what you have learned about giving yourself or others time to pause and gain clarity. I would love to hear about your experiences.
Speak soon, with love
Sarah
Source:
5 Reasons Strategy Execution Fails, Harvard Business School, By Kate Gibson on December 21, 2023
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