As a leader, answering questions is an important part of your role. Knowing the answers – and sharing your knowledge – is critical in keeping followers doing their work safely and effectively. As you are likely well aware, followers can ask great questions, not so great questions, or what’s always worst, no questions at all.
While answering the questions of your followers well ensures they have the correct answers to the questions they’ve thought to ask, that’s doesn’t guarantee they know the answers to what they haven’t asked or understand everything they need to know.
Ensuring they understand what they need to know takes a different form of questioning, your questions as their leader.
Consider this recent example, where the lack of understanding about the hazard of sewer gas in a trench proved fatal.
Picture they’d been asked, before work started, questions like:
- What kind of hazards might you encounter today?
- What would indicate the presence of H2S in the absence of a personal detector?
- How should you respond to a confined space emergency?
Leading with questions like these is a critical leadership practice in ensuring nothing like this happens to your good Followers.
Balmert Consulting
August 2025
English 
Portuguese 
Spanish 
Russian 
French 
Italian