As a leader, it’s easy to think you need to have all the answers.

After all, people are asking you lots of questions. They’re looking to you for guidance and direction.

And for most of your formative years – grade school, high school, college, early career – you moved forward by giving answers.

Your value as a student and as a new employee was based in what you knew.

But as you move up in leadership, knowing answers is no longer enough. In fact, knowing answers makes you a bottle neck.

As a leader, you need to learn to ask questions.

The leadership skill of asking questions

As a leader, you need to keep up learning. And that is most easily done by asking questions. Which feels pretty unnatural at first. Because asking questions often shows you don’t know something.

Admitting you don’t have answers feels risky. Until you do it.

Your asking what others think might be possible solutions isn’t abdicating your leadership role or authority. It’s growing your team. Helping them think for themselves. And it’s freeing you up from being a bottleneck.

So choose to be a leader who is always learning. By asking questions.