Here’s a thought. School’s never out for the professional. How does that make you feel? Excited or depressed? Continuous formal learning, whether in the university classroom or the corporate training room, is a necessity not a luxury for all of us. But there is another, informal style of learning that leaders need to encourage. It is learning because of curiosity and need.

I was at a speaker showcase several years ago when I heard a presenter by the name of Bob Prichard say, “When you’re not learning—someone somewhere else is. When you meet—guess who has the advantage.” I’ve carried that concept with me every day since. As a leader, you need to ask yourself if you could honestly say that your team is smarter today than they were a year ago. If they are, do you know how they got that way? Good business means, in part, replicating effective behavior, but you can’t replicate behavior that you don’t know about. Start asking questions about learning.

Finding out how your people learn can be a fascinating exercise. You’ll find those who learn by doing, some who learn by listening, and others who need to see a picture (either real or imagined) before something sinks in. The advantage of a supported do-it-yourself learning environment is that everyone can have their learning the way they need it. You can be part of the support process. Does your organization have a library? Does it have both books and books on tape? Are there whiteboards and flipcharts available for everyone’s use? Do you understand that doodling, muttering under your breath, and standing up during a meeting can all be signs of a person learning? It appears as though there could be a lot for you to learn.

Why bother? Because of the competition. You can bet they’re learning, and if they are and you aren’t, the future starts looking dim. So, start asking a few questions. Who knows, you might learn something!

At one time in my life, I worked for a temporary agency. One of the assignments they sent me to was at a large manufacturing plant where my job consisted of answering the phone for a department.

(Just a quick aside. Why would an organization put a temporary employee in a front-line, customer contact position? I cringe when I remember how many times I said I was sorry because I had no idea how to answer a customer’s question. I was sorry until I realized that I seemed to be the only one who cared.)

During the week I worked there, I overheard the leaders of the department talking about the lack of creativity their people exhibited. Later the same day, I observed the team working out a creative solution to a major problem facing their company bowling team. I’ve thought about that contradiction a lot since then. I’ve learned that the leaders were right in one way. In an environment that doesn’t expect people to be creative, they won’t be creative. However, those same people will be creative in an environment that challenges them to be creative. I’ve also learned that those leaders could have had a creative workforce if they had asked, What volunteer work do you do?

People volunteer for causes they believe in and for jobs in which they can put their skills to good use. Think about what you’d learn about the hidden talents in your organization by asking this question. You may be surprised by the people you discover. An accountant that coaches a winning soccer team. An administrative assistant who teaches watercolor painting at the local community college. A customer service representative who leads a fund raising campaign. “So what?” you may ask. So what indeed. Look at the hidden talents you didn’t know about or, more importantly, didn’t expect. This is a question that requires listening to the answer without reaction. You may hear some responses that challenge strongly held beliefs, and it is human nature to let that incredulity show on your face. Keep in mind that a look that expresses surprise or curiosity is okay. Incredulity is an insult.

Many of the specifics you learn when asking this question won’t have practical application—unless, of course, you’d like your administrative assistant to illustrate your monthly reports. But these answers will force you to look at the people you work with through new eyes, seeing different possibilities, and changing some limiting expectations. This kind of challenge is good for a leader.

One of the most often identified roles of a leader is that of barrier buster. Leaders get into trouble when they fall into a pattern of doing the jobs of the people who report to them rather than creating an environment that allows the right people to do the right things. Successful leaders are eager to help their people find ways to be productive by coaching them appropriately. They let their teams know that if they encounter a barrier that is beyond their ability to tackle, the leader expects that the team will ask for help. That is the moment when leaders need to roll up their sleeves and get to work on behalf of the team.

But what happens when the leadership team is the barrier? Asking What does our leadership team do that gets in the way of you doing your job? requires persistence and courage.

Persistence because the first time you ask this question, you are most likely to be answered with a quick “nothing” or “they’re doing okay” response. Don’t miss the internal dialogue that will undoubtedly be running through the answerer’s mind. “What kind of a fool does this person take me for? Like I’m going to answer this question!” And honestly, can you blame them for thinking that? So, ask the question, but don’t expect quality answers the first time around. The more you ask other questions and handle the answers appropriately, the more likely it is that when you ask this question again, you will get more truthful answers.

Courage because the responses you get might be painful to hear. It has been my experience while working with leaders that the farther up you are in the hierarchy, the less likely you are to receive an accurate picture of the organization’s day-to-day workings.

Unless, of course, you’ve been asking questions long enough to be trusted. You may hear things about your team’s behavior and maybe even about your own behavior that will require some soul-searching and change on your part. Don’t ask this question if you’re not ready to hear and act on the answers. By the way, if you’re not ready to act—get ready fast!

The best time to ask this question is when you’re talking to a customer. The next best time to ask this question is when you’re talking to someone on your team who regularly interacts with your customers. This is a question designed to generate ideas—lots of ideas from many sources. So your job with this question is to ask it of as many people as you can, as often as you can.

The worst possible position to be in when it comes to ideas is to have too few of them. That’s why the primary rule of brainstorming is to amass quantity, not force quality. Unfortunately, many people forget this rule, ask for ideas, stifle the conversation by judging each idea as soon as it’s mentioned, and then wonder why their people just don’t brainstorm well. If you want to hear about ideas that might make your customers happy, you need to generate lots of ideas and consider them all—even the ones that are too costly, too time-consuming, or too outrageous.

Creativity is messy. The best ideas never appear fully formed and practical. They are often hidden inside an idea that is impractical and silly. These best ideas need to be coaxed, nurtured, and defended. Creating an environment that encourages creative thinking isn’t always easy, but it’s usually fun.

Audience: stockholders, members of the press
Message: We’re slowly turning the company around now in a difficult environment.
Tone: formal
Timing: will vary, depending on insertion of financial, managerial, and legal details

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am (name), president and chief executive officer of (company). With pleasure, I welcome each of you to the company’s (number) annual shareholders’ meeting. Let me first introduce our Board of Directors.

[Introduce members.]

These people have served with dedication, integrity, and indisputable expertise. And as you know, they stand today for re-election to another one-year term.

Our corporate secretary will now take the podium to describe the steps necessary to officially convene today’s meeting and observe our legal requirements. Then I’ll update you on our year’s progress.

[Insert details of opening the meeting, election of board members, and collection of proxy votes for any matters before the shareholders.]

With those details out of the way, let’s review the year. We began in the wake of the biggest downturn in our industry in recent history. To say the least, as management, we were uncertain what the year would bring. Investors were cautious, keeping our shares at $(amount) for almost (number) months. Although we faced a difficult environment, (company) became stronger despite these difficulties. There’s an old saying that “adversity builds character.” Certainly, we built character this year.

Despite the environment and discouraging start, we reached several milestones. We’ve started and finished a solid foundation for our future. Let me get specific about what we’ve done in four areas: international marketing, customer service, new product development, expense cutbacks.

[Insert details in each of these areas.]

To spearhead these efforts I’ve just outlined, we have a superb new management team in place. (Name) and (name) you already know for their past excellent performance: (first name) in the area of (position) and (first name) in the area of (position).

I’m also pleased to introduce some new management team players who’ve joined us this year and already have made some impressive decisions that resulted in dramatic turnaround results.

[Insert names of new management team members.]

This new team is a welcome addition. They are all outstanding professionals with the skills and knowledge to strengthen the areas we identified in past years as strategic to our growth.

But to get specific about these dramatic changes I’m referring to: First, at a time when others in the industry have been forced to cut back on [insert detail], we have expanded our services in the area of [type].

Another of our strategic accomplishments has been to [continue with accomplishment details].

In the area of internal controls, we’ve added to the training plans for our key personnel and gained control of hiring and compensation practices. We’ve attracted many new star performers in key slots and our turnover of staff has fallen sharply—roughly by (number) percent.

In (month), we expanded our participation in [overview program].

In the areas of communication—telephone and data-processing—we have made tremendous strides. You could say we’ve gone from quill and ink to lasers and modems. Thus, our state-of-the-art equipment has provided us with the opportunity to concentrate on customer services and quality,… rather than on shuffling internal paperwork.

Additionally, we think we have put our ear a little lower to the ground to hear what the market is telling us in the area of [type of problem]. During the last six months, we have conducted a market research study with our own staff to learn to what extent [insert details]. The response has given us immediate insight into new ideas for services and products.

[Insert new product and service plans.]

Public awareness is another area we’ve tackled. We found that the public is almost totally ignorant of (number) percent of what we really do here. So, education of the consumer has been a major goal. To improve awareness, we’ve participated in and sponsored several events in the local community and in the larger industry arena.

[Insert details about increasing public and consumer awareness.]

These are just a few of the ways we’ve been working to strengthen our relationship with the (industry) community and local citizens. We plan to continue our promotional efforts by [insert details].

Of course, we will not see positive results of these last promotional efforts until next year.

Turning our attention to management of our finances, we’ve made these areas our priority for investing our reserve cash.

[Insert details about investments.]

Our primary aim is to generate consistent above-average return through traditional forms of investment management. With so many capital needs for personnel, equipment, and marketing, you may be wondering why we didn’t aim for home runs rather than dabbling with singles and doubles. In our opinion, the philosophy of a consistent foundation played a critical role in providing the return we needed for expansion.

In each of these areas I’ve outlined—public awareness and promotion, new product and service ideas, recruiting—we’ve made progress in a difficult environment. Our competitors have seen almost a (number) percent decline in gross revenues. On the other hand, our gross revenues totaled $(amount), with a net income of $(amount). Our share prices have maintained their value at $(amount).

Yes, it’s been a rough year. But these cyclical downturns are nothing new to people in the industry. History has shown that with a game plan in hand, the situation will improve. It is, in fact, turning around. Until that about-face is complete, we have reorganized to survive and even grow in these circumstances.

We’ve pared expenses and increased efficiency.

We’ve added services for our customers and quality to our products.

We’ve changed our management team’s philosophy from “wait and see” to “go and tell.”

We’ve let the community know who we are and have built stronger relationships in the process.

Without a doubt, our (year) achievements directly reflect the expertise and dedication of our employees, and I want to publicly thank them for their outstanding work.

We have a game plan. We’re committed. We’re stronger. And, I hope, we have your continued confidence and support. The strength we’ve built makes us a tough competitor when it’s our turn to bat.

May I take your questions now?

[Call for questions and answers.]

[Convey the results of any earlier voting.]

In closing, I want to point out that virtually all lasting structures require foundations. And frequently that foundation is the most difficult, time-consuming part of the construction. We have laid the foundation.

We have learned from the past, and the present is our platform for the future. This year we plan to continue and complete the projects that will make us strong. I’m convinced that we have the management and staff, the enthusiasm, the pride, and the skills for the opportunities that lie ahead.