1: How will I present myself to be seen as trustworthy?   Many people characterize trust as a congruence between words and actions.  There is one other component to include in that congruence, and that is leadership presence.  A leader considers how they will “be” with others such that they believe a leader’s words and actions.

2: What one message do I want to communicate today? Leaders often work to communicate too much, and really, one idea a day is enough.  The message that is most important to communicate may be a repeat of a very important idea or initiative that is communicated in a new and different way to help it have more “stickiness” to other leaders in the organization.

3: What is the best way to communicate that message to my audience? Leaders often concentrate more on a best way to develop their own communication style, without enough attention to how they best can adapt their approach to communicating to best suit a particular individual or audience.  Remember to meet the audience where they are, not where you are.

4: How will I be with others to be open to being influenced?Organizations pay a lot of money to have experts in place, and we buy that talent so that we can be influenced.  Consider how much time and effort you spend working on your messages versus how much you work to be open to the ideas and messages of all the expensive talent around you.

5: What is the one thing I need to learn more about today? Much of what a leader is responsible for is coaching and developing others.  Leaders can best show their own commitment to learning by demonstrating to others that they are in constant learning mode, asking for assessments, making adjustments, and seeking to uncover what they don’t know.

Click here to download a pdf of the article Five Questions Every Day for Leaders