A few years ago, someone asked me, “What’s the most valuable leadership habit you developed over the years?”
I thought about strategy. Decision-making. Hiring great people. Then I realised it was something much simpler. Every month, I stop long enough to ask myself the same seven questions.
They didn’t solve every problem, but they did prevent me from being surprised by them.
I’ve discovered that leadership rarely falters because people stop working hard. More often, it falters because they become so busy solving today’s problems that they stop asking the questions that would have prevented tomorrow’s.
Questions create perspective. Perspective creates clarity. And clarity creates better decisions.
That’s why I believe every leader should build a simple monthly discipline of asking a handful of important questions. Not hundreds. Just seven. Enough to step back from the day-to-day, notice what has changed, and make the small course corrections that keep a business moving in the right direction.
Every month, I would ask myself:
- What has changed since last month?
- What are our customers trying to tell us?
- Are our people becoming stronger or simply busier?
- What decision have we been avoiding?
- Where are we making progress, and where are we fooling ourselves?
- What should we stop doing?
- If we continue exactly as we are today, where will we be in twelve months?
None of these questions is particularly complicated. Their power comes from asking them consistently. Leadership isn’t improved by asking a great question once. It’s improved by asking the right questions month after month.
The purpose of these questions isn’t simply to gather information. It’s to create clarity. And clarity is what allows leaders to make better decisions, take more confident action, and build sustainable momentum.
Better leadership begins with better questions—and better questions become habits before they become results.
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