This past week about thirty of us from LifePark journeyed to Atlanta to attend the Drive Conference at Northpoint Church.  We attended a number of excellent sessions and one of my favorite sessions was entitled “That’s a Great Question” presented by Andy Stanley.

I’ve noticed that great leaders ask great questions.   The advantage of asking questions is that we’re able to learn from others.  The  questions we ask will  not only reveal our values but they reinforce our values to others.  Andy routinely asks himself, “What am I doing personally to help us improve organizationally?”

A key component of self-leadership is to ask oneself great questions.   Andy has studied the importance of asking good questions and has written The Best Question Ever and the revised version entitled, Ask It: The Question That Will Revolutionize How You Make Decisions.  Andy related a story as he was meeting with Bill Hybels and asked Bill about his process of decision making.  He said Bill gave him one of the best self-leadership questions he ever heard, “What would a great leader do?”  There are several benefits to this question:

1. This question raises the standard of your leadership above the circumstances of your leadership.

2. This question unveils the motives of your heart.

3. This question reveals your weaknesses.

4. This question inspires you to reach beyond the limits of your personality and style.

This question is also applicable to other areas of your life.  Andy gave the example of a husband who came out to the kitchen with a dirty plate and as he went to put it in the dishwasher he noticed that the dishwasher was clean.  What would a great husband do?   A great husband would not simply leave the plate but he would empty the dishwasher for his wife.  This question is applicable to everyone:  husbands, wives, children, etc.   What would a great wife do?   I’ll leave this answer to your imagination:)

As you go through life you can continue to respond as you have in the past or you take a moment and ask yourself, What would a great leader do?  You will discover that as you ask that question you will leave your comfort zone and respond in ways that you did not think were possible.

Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.  (Mark 11:24)

 Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

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