Leaders need to be just as comfortable asking questions as they do dictating actions. There is one caveat, though. After asking questions, leaders need to be comfortable with silence. Silence does not mean surrender. The quiet and stillness is part of one's quest to process the question and share a response that is authentic and true. Warren Burger, author of A More Beautiful Question, suggests that to ask powerful questions, we must:

• Step back to assess and notice what is missing or being silence. 
• Challenge assumptions (including our own)
• Gain a deeper understanding of the problem at hand.
• Question the questions we are asking.
• Take ownership

When was the last time you asked yourself - or your supporters - one of these questions:

1. What excites my curiosity, wonder and delight?
2. How would my ideal self create a solution?
3. Just because it happened in the past, why must it be repeated?
4. How much energy is this worth?
5. If not me, who? If not now, when?
   

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​Much like traditional one-to-one mentoring experiences, group mentorship has been practiced for centuries. As a developmental relationship, it has played a significant role in the learning and growth of individuals, the enhancement and productivity of organizations, and the evolution and progress of whole communities. Benjamin Franklin, as a young entrepreneur in Colonial Philadelphia, established a mentoring group named The Leather Apron Club.
 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1727 was the fastest-growing city in all of the British settlements—a bustling urban environment of 51,000 colonists. It was on the verge of becoming the commercial, economic, and political power of the Thirteen Colonies—more culturally relevant and influential than the other dominant settlements of the New World. This is the same year that Benjamin Franklin convened friends and colleagues to create a peer mentoring group named The Leather Apron Club. Much of Philadelphia’s emergence as a prominent colonial force is due to the work of Franklin and his collaborators.
 
This secretive society was comprised of men who donned leather aprons as part of their trade—artisans, craftsmen, and merchants. These middle-class entrepreneurs dreamed of a city that would better serve its populace and utilized this forum to realize those dreams. These dozen men discussed issues of the day, debated philosophical topics, devised schemes for self-improvement, and developed a network that allowed for the furtherance of their own careers and tangible improvements to the city.
 
The Leather Apron Club was a safe space for ideas to simmer and initiatives to unfold. The reflective space for dialogue and relationship-building established an important holding environment. These gatherings resulted in each member engaging in personal growth and professional learning opportunities. Stimulated by Franklin, a particular method was encouraged—the utilization of soft Socratic queries which guided the developmental and democratic dialogue. Suggestions and questions were utilized rather than debate or dictatorial responses. This allowed for each member to pause, enter into a reflective space, forge their own knowledge, engage with their peers, and then author their own decisions. 
 
The Leather Apron Club served as a crux for social change. A multitude of civic improvements rooted in “social utility” and social improvement were devised within the gatherings. Some of the crowning achievements include the establishment of paper currency, a system for regular road repair, and consistent street cleaning. A volunteer fire company, city hospital, educational academy (which would become the University of Pennsylvania), and the first subscription library all were the direct result of these mentoring gatherings.
 
LiDER utilizes group mentoring to enhance the leadership learning of our participants. For example, our Leadership Training Certificate Program utilizes group mentoring to cultivate synergistic relationships and to more deeply explore leadership theories, effective leadership practices, and facilitation skills necessary to train others in leadership. For more information on group mentoring, see LiDER Executive Director Jonathan Kroll’s article:
"What is Group Mentoring".

What are great leaders doing differently to make their organizations thrive and grow?
In her TED Talk, Roselinde Torres ponders the possibilities of this question (see below).
The premise of the pondering is that regular leaders—the majority of us—are not positioned or prepared to serve as great 21st century leaders for our organizations. Although more resources are being spent on leadership education and development than ever before, there is a significant concern that our current development and education experiences are not equipping us to serve as the effective leaders our organizations need.
 
In other words, she suggests there is a leadership crisis! Over the course of a year, Torres researched this crisis under the guise of the question, “what are great leaders doing distinctively different to thrive and grow? She found three critical differences:

• Great leaders shape their future rather than react to it. These great leaders are intentional about carving out time and space to reflect upon where the next change will come from. This time engaged in reflection allows great leaders to distill information so important decisions can be made with confidence.
• Great leaders are connected to diverse constituents and develop expansive networks. By spending time engaged in activities that broaden perspectives—reading books, traveling, being in community and dialoging with diverse constituents—leaders are able to see connections across systems.
• Great leaders dare to be different - they don't just talk about action, they do it. Courage is when leaders act in ways—with confidence and conviction—that allow them to move their vetted ideas along. It is so easy to carry on doing things the way they have always been done.

How are you helping yourself, your colleagues, and your organizations thrive and grow?