A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Bangalore, India for the first time to do some leadership development work with a group of people from around the world. On one of our days off, we had the opportunity as a group to go on a walking tour of the city. The purpose of the day was to learn about the city. Through the leadership of an incredible tour guide, we learned the history, culture, and government of Bangalore. Through this full-day experience, we not only learned about the city, we learned more about each other. As we walked, we asked questions, shared stories, and gained a deeper understanding of some of the important things in our lives.
This leads us to the second leadership outcome of the walking culture – learn. When done intentionally there are three areas for you to learn: results, challenges, and future possibilities. Let’s look at each of these and the questions you can ask to gain this understanding.
Results – Discover the recent accomplishments of this person.
Questions:
- What accomplishments are you proud of completing this week?
- What are some of the goals that you have completed in the last month?
Challenges – Discover the current obstacles that hinder this person.
Questions:
- What current obstacles are getting in your way?
- What challenges are you facing right now in your work?
Future Possibilities – Discover the future desires and goals of this person.
Questions:
- What do you hope to see happen in the next six months?
- What are you future desires for your career?
Let me again encourage you to take an intentional walk with an associate, peer, or your manager this week. Do this to not only to build relationship but to learn more about this person’s results, challenges, and future possibilities.
We have two more leadership outcomes from the walking culture that we will explore in future blogs. The next blog will focus on coaching.
