In a crisis this question will mean different things to different people, and that’s perfectly okay. Some people will assume that you’re asking about their physical well-being and will answer from that perspective. Some will assume you’re asking about their mental state and will answer that way. Still others will give you credit for thinking and caring about both. They’ll answer with that interpretation in mind. No matter which question they believe you’ve asked, their answers will be valid.

In times of crisis, people look to their leaders for clues to the behavior that’s expected. The last thing a leader should do in emergency situations is to disappear. If you disappear, your people will create reasons for your absence, none of which will be particularly favorable to you or your leadership. Your organization, your leadership team, your people, or, in some situations, the public, can’t afford for you to disappear, hide behind spokespeople, stop making eye contact, or utter repeated No comments. (There are ways of not making a statement without saying No comment. Learn how from a professional.) The bigger the crisis, the more visible, approachable, and accessible leaders need to be. No excuses. No exceptions.

Okay, maybe one little exception. If you’re facing a major crisis, one that seriously limits your ability to spend time with each person you need to ask this question of, appoint people to ask and listen in your place. Gather them together and explain that “The first thing we need to do is to check on our team. I want each of you to talk and listen to as many of our people as you can by asking them if they’re okay.” Then, plan your timetable, send the group out to ask and listen, and regroup to discuss the responses and plan your next actions. This exception does not extend permission to disappear from the eyes of the people who look to you for leadership. I’ve granted you permission to ease up on the approachability and accessibility, but not the visibility.

If this isn’t making sense, let me try one more time. Does thinking about Mayor Giuliani’s conduct after September 11th make the picture clearer?

Business, any business, is about people. I will defend that statement at any time, in any place, under any circumstance. Leaders know more people, usually because they’ve been around longer and had more opportunities to meet and converse with more people inside and outside their organization. When a leader leaves one company to go to another, it is more likely that they can—in the course of their business day—keep in touch with people from their prior organization. Part of the leader’s job is to help others make connections. Nowhere is this more helpful than in a coaching and mentoring session. This question is designed to get your mental Rolodex going. You listen to the response to this question and search for a person you can recommend as a connection.

People need to find other people for information, perspective, or advice. Each of these three situations has its own set of requirements.

* Looking for information. Here you need to help your mentee construct her own questions well so that when she asks for information, she’s asking for the right information. Usually you can suggest a phone contact unless the desired information is detailed or lengthy. Make sure you give your mentee permission to use your name as a reference.

* Looking for perspective. When perspective is the goal of an interaction between two people, a face-to-face meeting is probably required. This is asking for more than a quick answer, and you are sending your mentee to impose on someone’s most precious commodity these days—time. In this case, you will probably need to make a phone call of explanation or facilitate the meeting yourself.

* Looking for advice. I once coached a woman who was struggling with issues around balancing her career with her young children. I can remember my own issues of balance well, but my experience was years ago, and things have changed. I called a friend, a successful working mom I know, and asked if she could spend some time with my mentee, helping her figure out some strategies to keep her sanity. Advice is a bigger request than information and perspective, and I needed to put some skin in the game by asking my friend what I could do to repay her. The night I spent having pizza with her kids while she worked late on a critical report was really quite fun.

No matter what form your connection takes, make sure you remind your mentee about the basics of good networking. You learned them from your mother or, if you didn’t, borrow my mother’s lessons: Please, thank you, and the asker picks up the check.

Watching people as they enter the workplace at the beginning of the workweek gives you one view of organizational morale. Watching them as they leave at the end of the week gives you a different perspective. That’s why both questions are included as significant questions to ask.

What you’re really asking with this question is What does our work environment do to your spirit? This is a question asked by brave leaders. The answer you’re looking for goes something like this.

“Let me think. At the end of the week I’m exhausted and exhilarated. Some weeks it’s more one than the other, but it’s always a combination of both.” Exhaustion means that a person has given their all when they do their work. Exhilaration means that they believe that their work has meaning and that they have derived satisfaction from doing it.

The answers you’re apt to get when you ask this question might be very different from the one I outlined. In fact, the answer you get to this question might be an uneasy giggle followed by silence, a confused look with a mumbled “Why do you care,” or a blunt “It’s none of your business.” Those answers tell you a lot, too. Leaders ignore the spirit in their workplace at their own peril. Don’t ask this question unless you intend to take action to change the status quo. Before you turn the page, allow me to ask you a quick question: How do you feel at the end of your workweek? Do the words “exhausted” and “exhilarated” play a part in your answer?