Other than the skill of listening, asking questions is about as important to the compliance practitioner as any other that can be employed. Yet, equally critical is to ask the right question, which is an issue explored by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman in their book entitled “A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life.”
Grazer is a well-known and successful Hollywood director who has directed such movies as Splash, A Beautiful Mind, and Cinderella Man. He believes that much of his success is because he asks many questions, and “Questions are a great management tool.” This is because “Asking questions elicits information” also “creates the space for people to raise issues they are worried about that a boss, or colleagues, may not know about.” By asking questions, you allow “people to tell a different story than the one you expect.” Finally, and perhaps most significantly, “asking questions means people have to make their case for the way they want a decision to go.”
You, too, can use this simple and straightforward technique to improve your leadership qualities in the compliance function. The reason that asking questions is so much better than simply giving orders is that you have a vast talented workforce to tap into to help you do business in compliance. But the how of doing a business process that is, or should be, burned into your company can be facilitated by possibilities that are out there in your employees’ minds. 360 degrees of communication allows you to create an atmosphere where nobody is afraid to ask questions. Perhaps equally importantly, no one is afraid to answer a question.
Three key takeaways:
- Asking questions is a great technique to elicit information.
- Asking questions creates the authority in people to come up with ideas, coupled with the responsibility for moving things forward.
- Create an atmosphere where employees are confident to ask or answer a question.
