Craig Groeschel

You don't find the gold until the third question. You don't find the gold until the third question. Like, what are you talking about, Craig? Okay. Many leaders, we ask one question. Sometimes two, rarely three. And let me tell you a story to illustrate this, and then I'm going somewhere. Years ago, I asked one of our leaders, question number one, why do you think the presentation wasn't a big win?

You don't find the gold until the third question. You don't find the gold until the third question. Like, what are you talking about, Craig? Okay. Many leaders, we ask one question. Sometimes two, rarely three. And let me tell you a story to illustrate this, and then I'm going somewhere. Years ago, I asked one of our leaders, question number one, why do you think the presentation wasn't a big win?

You don't find the gold until the third question. You don't find the gold until the third question. Like, what are you talking about, Craig? Okay. Many leaders, we ask one question. Sometimes two, rarely three. And let me tell you a story to illustrate this, and then I'm going somewhere. Years ago, I asked one of our leaders, question number one, why do you think the presentation wasn't a big win?

It was obvious to all of us. And so why? Give me the why. And she said, she was a world-class leader. She said, well, we weren't really prepared and we weren't really clear in the meeting. I said, okay, question number two is, what do you think we could have done differently? And she said, well, we could have created better graphics and the, the set of the room was bad.

It was obvious to all of us. And so why? Give me the why. And she said, she was a world-class leader. She said, well, we weren't really prepared and we weren't really clear in the meeting. I said, okay, question number two is, what do you think we could have done differently? And she said, well, we could have created better graphics and the, the set of the room was bad.

It was obvious to all of us. And so why? Give me the why. And she said, she was a world-class leader. She said, well, we weren't really prepared and we weren't really clear in the meeting. I said, okay, question number two is, what do you think we could have done differently? And she said, well, we could have created better graphics and the, the set of the room was bad.

And like, if you're doing meetings, um, how you set up a room really matters in how you get people to interact. And so she was right. We said we could, we could have done been clearer, better graphics and better interaction. So third question I ask her is, um, if you'd been solely in charge, what would you have done? And here's what she said.

And like, if you're doing meetings, um, how you set up a room really matters in how you get people to interact. And so she was right. We said we could, we could have done been clearer, better graphics and better interaction. So third question I ask her is, um, if you'd been solely in charge, what would you have done? And here's what she said.

And like, if you're doing meetings, um, how you set up a room really matters in how you get people to interact. And so she was right. We said we could, we could have done been clearer, better graphics and better interaction. So third question I ask her is, um, if you'd been solely in charge, what would you have done? And here's what she said.

She said, I wouldn't have done a presentation because I didn't really love the plan. I was like, Oh, okay. She had my attention. Uh, um, I didn't hear the heart of the problem until the third question. And so I just, you know, then said what I would kind of talked about, go on, tell me more. Why didn't you love the plan?

She said, I wouldn't have done a presentation because I didn't really love the plan. I was like, Oh, okay. She had my attention. Uh, um, I didn't hear the heart of the problem until the third question. And so I just, you know, then said what I would kind of talked about, go on, tell me more. Why didn't you love the plan?

She said, I wouldn't have done a presentation because I didn't really love the plan. I was like, Oh, okay. She had my attention. Uh, um, I didn't hear the heart of the problem until the third question. And so I just, you know, then said what I would kind of talked about, go on, tell me more. Why didn't you love the plan?

And she listed several things that when I heard her say, I'm like, it made a lot of sense to me. And so I'm like, why didn't you tell us? And what do you think she said? Well, she said, you know, I tried to tell you, but you know, you all already had your minds made up. So what she was doing is she was too respectful to say it, but essentially what she was saying is you weren't listening.

And she listed several things that when I heard her say, I'm like, it made a lot of sense to me. And so I'm like, why didn't you tell us? And what do you think she said? Well, she said, you know, I tried to tell you, but you know, you all already had your minds made up. So what she was doing is she was too respectful to say it, but essentially what she was saying is you weren't listening.

And she listed several things that when I heard her say, I'm like, it made a lot of sense to me. And so I'm like, why didn't you tell us? And what do you think she said? Well, she said, you know, I tried to tell you, but you know, you all already had your minds made up. So what she was doing is she was too respectful to say it, but essentially what she was saying is you weren't listening.

Okay, that's a horrible problem, and it's actually a common problem in a lot of organizations. I made a very, very important discovery, but you're not likely to discover that level of truth when you're just asking one or two questions. And so let's just kind of analyze this story and talk about what we learned and the different levels of lesson. Level one lesson, we learned this.

Okay, that's a horrible problem, and it's actually a common problem in a lot of organizations. I made a very, very important discovery, but you're not likely to discover that level of truth when you're just asking one or two questions. And so let's just kind of analyze this story and talk about what we learned and the different levels of lesson. Level one lesson, we learned this.

Okay, that's a horrible problem, and it's actually a common problem in a lot of organizations. I made a very, very important discovery, but you're not likely to discover that level of truth when you're just asking one or two questions. And so let's just kind of analyze this story and talk about what we learned and the different levels of lesson. Level one lesson, we learned this.

We weren't really prepared and we didn't have a great presentation. We learned that with one question. Level two learning was the presentation wasn't a problem, the plan was a problem. That's a big learning. Level three learning was that those of us at the top were not listening to the people on the front lines. That's a level three learning that's so important to the future of the organization.

We weren't really prepared and we didn't have a great presentation. We learned that with one question. Level two learning was the presentation wasn't a problem, the plan was a problem. That's a big learning. Level three learning was that those of us at the top were not listening to the people on the front lines. That's a level three learning that's so important to the future of the organization.