7 Breakthrough Questions to Fuel Workday Momentum

Chance are you would like some of what every leader would like—momentum. All of us hit both personal and organizational plateaus. And if you’re not careful, you can get stuck there, sometimes for far too long. I’m getting ready to mentor some new leaders this fall and was asked to think through some questions our team might want to ask them. It made me think through some of the most unusual questions I’ve heard over the years that have helped me grow as a leader. Here are seven questions I’ve collected over my years in leadership that I ask myself on a semi-regular basis to push through to the next level and find momentum. I can’t guarantee they will help you, but I can promise you they have helped me and our team get unstuck over and over again. Here they are: 1. What’s your sweet spot, and how much of your time are you spending in it these days? At the end of the day, we may be good at many things, but we’re actually only great at a few things. And we’re only truly passionate about a few things. The more you can align your gifting and passion with how you spend your time, the more effective you will be. Sure, in start-up mode, you need to do a little of everything, but over time, the more you spend doing what you’re best at, the more you will love what you do and the greater value you’ll bring to your team and cause. 2. In your weekly routine, what are you having to manufacture energy to do? Who else could do that? Someone else loves to do what you hate to do. Some people really love spreadsheets. (I don’t.) When you sit on something you don’t like doing and are not good at doing, you deny someone else an opportunity. Plus, you sap your strength. 3. Who are you spending time with that you don’t need to be spending time with?  This is a huge question. Don’t overlook it. Often we think we have to spend our time with whoever asks to meet with us. That’s almost always a mistake. I spend almost no time with the people who attend our church because we have groups for that. In fact, I couldn’t lead a church our size if I spent all week meeting people who attend our church. I also focus my time on my direct reports on staff and on our elders. I make time for leaders and coaches who sharpen me. Because of that, the people who attend our church have a much better experience relationally (they connect with each other) and spiritually (the community is healthy) than if I tried to meet with all of them (which would, actually, be impossible). 4. Who are you not spending time with that you need to be spending time with, or need to be spending more time with?  Usually we spend time with people who are causing the most issues or friction in the organization, and we ignore our best leaders because they don’t "need" us. Flip that. Spend most of your time with your best leaders. It will fuel momentum and create a positive, healthy culture. Plus, you’ll love how you spend your days far more. Spending your time on perpetual crisis management kills momentum. 5. What areas of your ministry are seeing the most traction these days and what are you doing to further that?  Just like you need to spend most of your time with your best leaders, you and your organization should spend most of your time focusing your efforts on what’s producing the majority of your results. If you can apply the Pareto Principle to all areas of your organization, you’ll go further. 6. What areas of your ministry are seeing the least traction? What is that telling you and how should you respond?  OK maybe that’s two questions, but two good ones. Kill what’s not working. As my friend Reggie Joiner says, “It doesn’t take a leader to kill something that’s dead. It takes a leader to kill something that’s living.” You need to prune and cut your organization as much as possible to fuel momentum. 7. If you were an outside consultant, what would you tell you and your team to do?  Seems a little strange, but this one will give you distance. If you were an outsider, what would you tell yourself to do? Once you figure that out, just go do it. Sometimes answering this question can lead to a breakthrough.