Leaders: Are You Insulated from the Best Ideas?

In the March-April 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review, Hal Gregersen writes about the bubble in which many leaders find themselves. Power is often a place that insulates leaders from the  ideas and critical information needed to move forward successfully.  Gregersen offers these questions to see if you’re in an insulation capsule:

1. How many barriers do people have to cross to talk directly with you?
2. How much of your typical workweek is spent outside your office or headquarters?
3. When was the last time you were dead wrong about something at work?
4. How quickly did you uncover your last mistake? How fast did you change course?
5. How often do people ask you uncomfortable questions at work?
6. How often do you talk with people who make you uncomfortable? How much time do you spend in places that cause you to feel uncomfortable?
7. How many questions do you ask versus statements do you make in typical conversations?
8. How often do you wait silently (three seconds or more) for others to answer your questions?
9. How many times this week have you said “I don’t know’ in response to a question?
10. When was the last time your provocative questions gave rise to a catalytic story — one that radically transformed some part of your organization for the better?

Discovering the answers to these questions will raise the bar of your impact and increase your influence.