A LESSON FROM THE MAYOR

Bill de Blasio, former Mayor of New York City, is one of the most maligned public figures in recent memory. In 2014 he accidentally dropped a groundhog on Groundhog’s Day and it died. Almost ten years later, people still joke about it. His flaws have been well documented but he also had a skill that I’ve never seen publicly discussed.

I’m not going to pretend I spent a lot of time with the Mayor, but I did spend time with him during his preps for Townhall meetings. At these Townhalls he would go to a neighborhood in the City, make a few announcements (i.e, the construction of a new police precinct), and then take questions from the audience for hours. Anyone in attendance could ask a question, and preps for the meetings were intense to put it mildly. They usually took place in a beautiful room in Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side— the Mayor’s official residence.

Nearly every agency was expected to be present and provide the Mayor with read outs of their activity on the ground. Sewage, crossing guards, policing, it didn’t matter. The Mayor would then pepper the heads of agencies with follow up questions that cleanly sliced to the heart of the matter. The best ones were the simplest and seemed obvious as soon as the words came out of his mouth. And the answers to these questions, provided the talking point that he could share with the public.

The experience made me realize that a question doesn’t need to be complicated to be powerful.  In fact, great questions have a habit of cutting through the noise when you least expect it.

I’m so passionate about questions because they are the cornerstone to my coaching philosophy. Powerful questions that come from a true place of curiosity allow clients to pause and make better decisions. Advice can be ignored in the way that a question cannot.

Whether I’m coaching someone, leading a workshop, or leading a retreat, my main focus is on using questions to unlock larger truths. Once those truths reveal themselves, it’s possible to take action and make change.

So this week, remember to ask questions (especially if you are a dude cause we can be bad at that!), remember to listen, and if you're offered the opportunity to hold a groundhog, sometimes it's best just to say "no thanks."