This question is all about self-awareness. What am I noticing about what I question and what I don’t? As ever, there is no good or bad. There is what you are noticing and there is what you are not noticing. And then there is what you are questioning and what you aren’t.
This question is simply inviting you to pay more attention as you go through your day. Initially, this might be around situations you find somewhat challenging or that suck energy from you. Ask yourself:
- What assumptions am I making?
- What have I settled for?
- How might this be different?
It is also about how we question. One area I’ve struggled with is responding to verbally aggressive people. My bias was not to engage and look to calm things down. It was only when I saw a colleague embrace this aggression and match it that I realised I had more options.
It is not that I have to be aggressive or that this is some form of secret weapon, but it is an option I had never allowed myself to consider. I had accepted their aggression as a fact rather than something that could at least be challenged:
- “Where is the anger coming from?”
- “What are you really angry about?”
- “How is this anger helping?”
Just remember, there are usually more options than may first appear!
Questions in the Image:
- How am I curious?
- In what ways am I curious?
- What am I not curious about?
- Where are my boundaries?
Want to Read More Around This Topic?
A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas by Warren Berger (link to Amazon.co.uk). This book delves into the importance of questioning in life and work, exploring how the most creative, successful people tend to be expert questioners. It offers practical insights on how to cultivate the art of asking more and more effective questions.
Nurturing Curiosity – Daily Practice: This is part of the Nurturing Curiosity series of tools, insights and questions designed to help nurture curiosity as part of our daily practice. In point of fact, every interaction we have is an opportunity to question what we are observing and how we and others are seeing the world. Also remember that questions come in many forms throughout our day – just now I am curious as to how I can seamlessly include more moments of reflection in my day. I had a great written reflective practice and then I decided to change my morning routine and the practice has receded somewhat. How might I recreate that? And yet, is that what I need now? Is that a priority at this moment in time? Something to reflect upon!
About Tom O’Leary
Tom guides bold pioneers through inner transitions towards regenerative futures.
His primary offering – through a process he calls Ecological Coaching – is about working with leaders on the mindset, skillset and structural shifts that will power their organisation’s outer transition.
This means helping leaders thrive while creating ripples of positive change within their organisation and most importantly for the communities they serve and ultimately life on this planet.
It is thus not just about the leader as an “individual” but rather as part of an ecology of relationships. Within this ecology, he helps the leader feel heard, gain clarity, take action, build confidence and thrive all in service of something bigger.
How Might Tom Help?
My first invitation is to take maximum advantage of the free content on this site.
- As you are reading this, you are clearly on a fascinating journey. If you feel you would benefit from us doing some work together on some aspect of your journey, please explore this page: How Can I Serve?
- I also endeavour to answer every email so if you have any queries do reach out.
