Why the Future of Leadership Depends on Better Questions
As organisations navigate increasing complexity, the ability to develop people, build trust and encourage independent thinking is becoming a critical leadership capability. Research suggests that coaching offers a valuable approach to achieving this.
For generations, leadership has been associated with certainty. Leaders were expected to provide answers, make decisions and direct others towards results. But the nature of leadership is evolving.
Today’s leaders must navigate technological disruption, changing employee expectations, organisational uncertainty and the growing responsibility of developing people while delivering performance.
What if one of the most valuable contributions a leader can make is not providing the right answer, but asking the question that helps someone else find it?
This is not simply a philosophical shift. It reflects a growing body of leadership thinking and research that highlights the importance of coaching, meaningful conversations and psychological safety in the workplace.
The Power of Listening: A Leadership Skill Often Underestimated
One of the foundations of effective coaching is the ability to listen beyond what is immediately being said.
In their 2016 Harvard Business Review article, What Great Listeners Actually Do, Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman challenge the assumption that good listening is simply about remaining silent, maintaining eye contact or repeating what another person has said.
Their research-based analysis suggests that effective listeners engage actively, ask constructive questions and help others explore ideas from different perspectives. For leaders, this distinction matters.
Listening is not merely the absence of speaking. It involves curiosity, attention and a genuine willingness to understand another person’s experience.
Psychological Safety: Creating the Conditions for Growth
People are unlikely to contribute ideas, acknowledge mistakes or raise concerns if they fear embarrassment or negative consequences. This is where psychological safety becomes important.
Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson’s foundational 1999 study, Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams, examined 51 work teams in a manufacturing company.
The research found an association between team psychological safety and learning behaviour. It also identified learning behaviour as an important mechanism linking psychological safety with team performance.
These findings suggest that the interpersonal environment within a team matters for learning.
For leaders, this raises practical questions:
- Do employees feel comfortable sharing a different perspective?
- Can team members acknowledge mistakes without fear of humiliation?
- Are difficult conversations approached with curiosity as well as accountability?
- Do people feel heard, respected and supported in their development?
Psychological safety does not mean avoiding accountability or difficult decisions. It means creating an environment in which honesty, respectful challenge and learning can coexist.
Developing this capacity requires more than good intentions. It calls for practical conversational skills that help leaders build trust, give constructive feedback and address challenges directly.
These capabilities form an important part of the Centre for Coaching’s Leadership Conversations series, which includes workshops focused on coaching, feedback, alignment, trust, courageous conversations and mentoring.
Three Leadership Practices Worth Developing
Translating coaching principles into everyday leadership does not necessarily require lengthy formal conversations.
Often, the opportunity lies in small but deliberate changes to how leaders engage with others.
- Ask Before You Advise
- Make Feedback a Conversation
- Build Trust Through Consistent Conversations
Building Coaching Capability Across the Organisation
While individual leadership development is valuable, a broader opportunity exists when organisations begin to develop coaching capability across teams and management levels. This requires more than encouraging managers to ask questions.
It involves helping leaders recognise when coaching is appropriate, develop conversational competence and practise these skills consistently.
Turning Leadership Insight into Meaningful Development
At the Centre for Coaching, a specialised centre at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, we work with individuals, leaders and organisations seeking to develop their leadership and coaching capabilities.
Our approach brings together Integral Coaching principles, reflective learning and practical application to support meaningful development.
Depending on your leadership or organisational development needs, there are several pathways to explore.
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Research and References
- Zenger, J., & Folkman, J. (2016). What Great Listeners Actually Do. Harvard Business Review, 14 July 2016. Read article.
- Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. Research paper.
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