Real Life Leadership: Consider 4 questions to help guide your business in the new year

Here's my end of 2007 Real Life Leadership column - Consider 4 questions to help guide your business in the new year.

I've written about the Four Questions (Downloadable as a handy PDF chart here.) previously. You can find those posts here.

The questions came to be over time as I talked with people about their lives and organizations. There used to be more questions, and once these questions begin to be asked, new questions emerge.

My colleague and blogging friend, Galba Bright, an Emotional Intelligence specialist in Jamaica, has done more with these four questions than any one I know. Galba has become the master of the questions. Make sure you read Galba's end of the year post - How To Make 2008 Your Best Year Ever - 22 Energizing Emotional Intelligence Tips. ( Download the PDF chart here.)

Recently we talked on the phone, and from that conversation came the idea for the column. I emailed Galba asking for him to respond to a few questions about the value of the Four Questions.  Here's what he had to say.  Read them carefully for there is great wisdom in Galba's experience.

Question 1: What is the general value of asking these questions?

It's very valuable to have family, friends and work colleagues influence and guide your behaviour, after all no (wo) man is an island. Ultimately, the most precious conversation you can have is a dialogue of a completely different nature.

It's the conversation that you have with yourself.

That conversation can be scary, because the idea seems weird. If you can get beyond the novelty and the fear that consciously talking to yourself can bring, it can be a wonderful, life-changing experience. The questions that you ask yourself and the answers that are revealed are the lifeblood of this conversation.

The 4 Questions that Every Leader Should Ask give me all the conversational nourishment that I need for 3 key reasons:

1. They help me to be clear about what I really want. There's no point in me asking what my impact is if I don't know what I'm seeking to achieve. The questions stimulate me to ask better questions of myself. They propel me along my journey. As the year has gone by, the questions have become a strong bridge that I traverse as I move towards my purpose.

2. They enable me to measure whether my behaviour is line with the impact that I desire. I ask these questions of myself every Sunday, I have a copy on my office wall and I keep a copy in my journal. I recommend these questions to my coaching clients, so Ed now has a dedicated following in Jamaica. Ed is clearly demonstrating what impact is all about. The truth has a wonderful tendency to reach receptive people at the right time. 

3. They keep me on a path of "discontinuous improvement." (No, this isn't a typo) By that I mean that my fundamental desire to move forward is always there, yet sometimes I slip and fall. The 4 questions remind me of what truly matters. I am reassured by them and the processes that I have committed myself to. When adversity strikes, I seek to accept it and I persevere. I also often enjoy major breakthroughs, which often manifest themselves as "surprises."

Tune up your EQ is now rated the #1 Emotional Intelligence blog by Technorati. I never explicitly planned for this. It is a result of a combination of good fortune and process of action. The 4 Questions is a very important part of this success. Now that the surprise has happened, it’s time to embrace it and keep on asking questions.

 

Question 2. Which one has been most significant to you and why.

I have been on a journey since 1992 of seeking to live a life of significance. The 4 Questions are a powerful tool as I seek to maintain that course. They become most powerful when you ask each of them repeatedly and consistently. Then you take initiatives based on your answers. It's like having a saw that keeps on sharpening itself.

If I had to choose one question, I would choose "What Is My Impact" because it is the gateway to all the others. If you have a deep desire to ask yourself this question, you are well on your way. 

What I’ve Learned.

Every moment of every day we are telling ourselves our story. The key is to write as many of the words, sentences and paragraphs as we possibly can with full consciousness. We owe it to ourselves and the world to regularly sit down and have a conversation with ourselves.

Ed Brenegar's 4 Questions are a powerful place to start.

Thank you Galba for your kind thoughts, and more importantly for the impact you are having through the use of the Four Questions.

A New Year's Resolution will fade with the press of life. However, a focus on what your impact is to be this year will make it more likely that you will achieve your goals.

I'm always interested to hear stories of how these Four Questions make a difference. A book is in progress that I hope to write and publish this year. One of my strategic focuses for the coming year.

May the year bring  peace, hope and greater impact that you can imagine on this day.