Leading Through Questions, Not Just Directives
- Joel Abel
- Jul 5
- 2 min read
Effective educational leaders understand that their role isn’t merely to instruct—it’s to empower inquiry. By shifting from giving answers to asking the right questions, school leaders cultivate autonomy, critical thinking, and shared ownership of both learning and operations.
1. Ask “What am I missing?” to invite honest feedback Todd Henry reminds us that a powerful leadership question is: “What’s something obvious that I’m missing?” This signals humility, breaks down hierarchical barriers, and creates space for teachers and staff to speak up with unfiltered insights. In schools, this might uncover overlooked student challenges, resource gaps, or unspoken emotional dynamics.
2. Questions teach and foster innovation Art Petty identifies four benefits of leading with questions: they teach, drive innovation, enhance performance, and improve decision‑making. For educators, framing leadership as questions encourages reflective practice—a teacher might ask, “What if we restructured this lesson for multilingual students?” rather than dictating a change.
3. Choose your question type strategically HBR researchers categorize questions into five types:
Investigative (“What’s known?”)
Speculative (“What if?”)
Productive (“Now what?”)
Interpretive (“So what?”)
Subjective (“What’s unsaid?”)
A school leader using this framework may ask: “What do we already know about student engagement data?” (Investigative) “What if we tried student-led conferences?” (Speculative) “Who on our team is hesitant to change—and why?” (Subjective)
4. Embed questioning into your leadership habits The HBR article highlights that leaders like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang have shifted toward a day of asking rather than answering. In school settings, daily check-ins might include just one curiosity‑driven question like, “What opportunity did we miss today for deeper student learning?”
5. Cultivate a culture of inquiry LeadingWithQuestions argues that questions build trust, defuse tension, align teams, and boost engagement. School leaders who ask and listen—not just at teachers’ meetings but in casual hallway chats—signal a culture where voices matter and collective problem‑solving is the norm.
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