Powerful Questions
for Managers and Mentors

Powerful questions shift us away from the details to present possibilities and invite your team member (or mentee, colleague, friend, or partner!) to clarity, action, and discovery. These open-ended questions help to create the opportunity for deeper learning and a shift in perspective.

Opening

  • What’s happened since we last talked?

  • What are the most important things that happened in the last 30 days?

  • What’s the update you want to share?

  • How were your last few weeks?

  • Where are you right now?

Digging In

  • What is here that you want to explore?

  • What part of the situation have you not yet explored?

  • What other angles can you think of?

  • What is just one more possibility?

  • What are your other options?

  • What seems to be the main obstacle?

  • What has you stuck?

  • What concerns you the most about…?

  • What is the real challenge for you?

  • How else could you have handled this?

  • If you could do it over again, what would you do differently?

Gaining Clarity

  • Can you help me understand…?

  • What are your most powerful feelings?

  • Can you say more?

  • What do you think that means?

  • Will this matter five years from now?

  • How does this fit with your purpose?

  • What words really describe this?

  • How is this working?

Resources

  • What resources would help you to decide?

  • What do you need to understand better?

  • How can you find out more?

  • What is the picture you have right now?

  • What resources are available to you?

  • What resources are you missing?

Planning

  • What do you plan to do about…?

  • How does this fit with your game plan?

  • How does this change your plan?

  • How could you improve the situation?

  • How does this fit with your plans or values?

  • What could this look like?

  • What might be next?

  • What will you do? When?

  • Is this a time for action? What action?

  • What are your next steps? When will you complete those?

Thinking Bigger

  • What is possible?

  • What is the dream?

  • What if it works out exactly as you want?

  • What is most exciting to you about this?

  • What does your intuition tell you?

  • What do you make of this?

  • How does this look to you?

  • What resonates for you? In the bigger scheme, how important is this?

Outcomes

  • What is your conclusion?

  • What are your final thoughts?

  • What do you think this all amounts to?

  • How would you summarize your efforts so far?

  • What is your most desired outcome?

  • As this works out, what will be most important?

  • How will you know you have been successful?

  • How could this all work out?

  • Where might this lead?

  • What do you think are the chances of success?

  • What are your best- and worst-case predictions?

Questions from and inspired by CTI International.