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If you are a manager or team lead, then asking questions of your team needs to be a well-honed skill. Here are three methods of using questions to keep in your tool belt.

A pro will always take full responsibility, no matter who they asked.

There's no such thing as a dumb question, sure, but there's also an opportunity to ask better questions.

As long as there are no violations with HR or someone's confidence, err on the side of sharing to realize the benefits of transparency in your teams.

Transparency opens doors for you and others.

So you are on board with the idea of being more transparent! Fantastic! So... what exactly should you be sharing?

This level of transparency may feel scary at first, but managed well, it can be a total game changer in getting results.

Share information across the matrix to build trust all the way around.

It's just giving you a page of words to stare at... and still feel undecided.

Once the information is in front of you, decide what is useful and actionable, vs just interesting but not helpful.

That is not really a plan. That's simply a well-positioned series of steps.

There's no thinking outside if judgment is blocking the door.

When considering how to be an effective advocate, ask yourself these questions.

The value of management rests in achieving an outcome of optimal effectiveness, sustained over time.

The specialization often required at higher and higher levels of performance means that it is less and less likely that a position can be filled with someone who has done the exact same things in their past. Expertise, then, is at a premium.

You learned. So can someone else.

I would never suggest that these concepts are mutually exclusive. But neither are they the same. 

It's amazing to me how many people really believe they have a crystal ball.

Risk and uncertainty are not interchangeable. They mean totally different things.

If you haven't had a spectacular fail in the last year, you haven't even given yourself the opportunity to learn anything.

Despite the day to day tensions and nastiness that my mom might have endured in the corporate world as an immigrant and woman in the early 1980s, I grew up hearing a story of a very different tone.

Be careful that you are not putting the metrics themselves ahead of the strategic intent.

What is the worst that can happen if you change course? The answer is not what you might think.

Understand which situation an instrument should be applied.

Data and information is influenced by the lens through which we process that information.

Seeking additional information is a very indulgent way to look responsible in the face of uncertainty or fear.

This year can be different.

You need to do two things. Just two things!

Do not dismiss that inner voice. Do not dismiss yourself.

How you feel about something is only derived from what you think about it.

There is no such thing as being locked into a certain personality or style.

Learn to be "all in" in any situation, and you learn an incredible job skill that will serve you throughout your career.

Opportunities for giving intangible gifts are all around us.

The most effective (not necessarily the easiest!) way to decide how to get around obstacles in your path.

"In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."

Find a healthier and more growth-mindset approach to trial and error on the job.

Determine for yourself how and when to use your voice to best serve you.

If you've made it this far, welcome to the hard part. Welcome to execution.

Acknowledge your history and circumstances, proactively address potential pitfalls, and follow through more than you ever have before.

Describe the condition of your work, education, parenting, life, etc. that you want. Let that be your anchor and then build decisions that get you ever closer to that condition, regardless of the exact circumstances and all the possible wrenches that might be thrown your way. This is called a desired outcome.

“I don’t know what I want.” I hear that a lot.