Career-oriented people often ask me what they can do to earn a promotion. It’s not unusual for me to respond with advice like, “be a learner,” “choose impact,” or “get stuff done.” While I’m admittedly biased, I believe those are strong recommendations. But there’s another powerful way to stand out and position yourself for advancement: ask the right questions.
Mindset Matters — the best-seller I co-authored with Zach Hutcheson, my successor as CEO at Correct Craft — outlines powerful ways ambitious professionals can stand out and position themselves for advancement. Each chapter explores a different mindset that helped drive explosive growth at Correct Craft but will also help any organization. Those same mindsets can also be reframed as questions, questions that aspiring leaders can ask to get noticed by the executives and better-position themselves for their next promotion.
Let’s look at some examples.
1. Are we looking at this situation as “knowers” or “learners?” Knowers tend to view information through the lens of validation — they look for evidence that confirms what they already believe. That mindset can be limiting and even dangerous. Learners approach information with curiosity and a growth mindset. They are open to seeing things differently and willing to change their minds when presented with new insights. The best leaders are learners.
2. Should we change our focus from activity to results? It’s very easy — and very common — for leaders to focus more on activity than on results. Being busy can feel satisfying, and it often reinforces a self-image that equates busyness with importance. But focusing primarily on activity does not drive success and can even sabotage success. Employees who help their organizations stay focused on outcomes rather than motion can create tremendous value — and they will almost certainly get noticed for it.
3. Who is the right person to handle this situation? When organizations face difficult challenges, leaders almost instinctively ask: “How do we fix this?” But in my experience, the better question is rarely how and almost always who. Many times, a leader has come to me frustrated by a problem they cannot solve. The moment I suggest shifting from a how to who perspective, there is an immediate change in their expression — a sense of relief as they realize they’ve been carrying a burden they don’t need to carry. This simple mindset shift often unlocks the solution they were missing. Aspiring leaders should bring this perspective into any meeting where a persistent problem is being discussed. Asking who is the right person to help solve this can change the direction of the conversation — and the outcome.
4. Have we given enough consideration to character and chemistry? I have written and spoken often about the most consistent mistake I’ve made during my career: hiring people based primarily on competency while not paying enough attention to character and chemistry. It’s not that I don’t value character and chemistry. I absolutely do. I would never knowingly hire someone with clear issues in those areas. But I can become emotionally hijacked by a candidate’s competency, especially when I desperately need someone to solve a significant problem. When that happens, it becomes far too easy to overlook warning signs that, in hindsight, were obvious. I suspect many leaders struggle with this same tendency. That’s why employees who are willing to ask thoughtful questions about character and chemistry during the hiring process can provide tremendous value to their organizations. Those questions are extra important when others are too distracted — or too desperate — to see obvious issues.
5. Are we silent liars? The greatest untapped resource in any organization is its own people. Yet that opportunity often goes unrealized because too many employees feel compelled to become silent liars. A silent liar is someone who disagrees with the organization’s direction, strategy or decisions but does not feel psychologically safe enough to speak up. They see problems, and they have ideas that could improve the company, but fear of consequences, conflict or retaliation keeps them silent. Asking whether silent lying exists within an organization requires courage because the cultures that produce it are often shaped by poor leadership — the very people who most need to be confronted about the issue. Still, it is one of the most important questions an organization can ask, because addressing it can unlock dramatically better performance, innovation and trust.
(If you recognize silent lying in your organization but are afraid to highlight it, there is a good chance the company is not a place you should stay long term.)
6. Are we stuck on the “X”? My friend Michele Rigby Assad — a former CIA officer who spent significant time in war zones throughout the Middle East — has also been a valuable contributor to our leadership development programs at Correct Craft. She teaches that the CIA trains its agents to recognize three options in a crisis, what’s called “being on the X”: move toward the problem, move away from the problem, or do nothing and remain on the X. Michele wrote a book built around this concept, but the key lesson is simple: never stay on the X.
In our organization, we call staying on the X “swirling.” Swirling happens when leaders cannot make a decision and delay action, often repeatedly asking for more information to mask their indecisiveness. Like many of the questions discussed here, asking your team whether they are swirling can take courage. But it is often exactly the right question — one that helps teams break through paralysis, regain momentum and move forward decisively.
7. Should we focus on creativity over capital? When organizations encounter a problem, the first question is often, “What’s it going to cost to fix this?” While that reaction is common, it is also one of the fastest ways to misuse an organization’s precious resource: capital. The best-run organizations think differently. Instead of immediately spending money, they focus on solving problems creatively while preserving capital. That mindset drives innovation, discipline and long-term strength. Asking this question can help shift an organization toward a healthier and more effective way of thinking. It also tends to distinguish the person asking it as someone who thinks strategically, not just operationally.
Career success is often determined not only by doing the right things, but also by asking the right questions. The questions outlined here will help emerging leaders strengthen their organizations while also advancing their own growth and career ambitions.
Bill Yeargin is long-time marine industry leader and author of nine books, including the best-seller Education of a CEO.
