The Power of the Question in Business
by Laleh Alemzadeh-Hancock
Answering Our Need to Know with a Powerful Question
Our need for business wisdom continues. For nearly thirty years, my message to business leaders has been simple: If you want ongoing growth and profitability, keep your focus on possibility.
There are two major factors that limit our ability to recognize and expand possibility in business: first, the fear of failure and, second, the need to “know.” Both concepts are rooted in society’s point of view that business, as with life, is determined by a fundamental set of rules. People teach us that there is a right and wrong answer to everything.
The greatest challenge with this point of view is that it often prevents our business from becoming all that it can be. When we fear to be wrong, we make choices based on what is right rather than what is possible. When we search for familiar answers or answers that make sense to us, we are basing our decisions on what has already been done before, rather than what it is possible to create.
Creating Business Opportunity in Unlimited Potential
The Joy of Business® is about creativity. It is about expanding what is possible, inviting in unknown opportunity and creating a future that is not necessarily rooted in the past. The Joy of Business® is about unlimited potentiality, non-judgement, and non-duality.
Therefore, if we are to truly connect with the joy of our business and business wisdom, it is vital that we see beyond our desire to be ‘right’ and to have all the answers. Instead, we must be bold enough to sit in the space of unknowing and curiosity.
Asking questions is the easiest, most powerful way to unlock the potential of any business. When faced with a choice, an excellent tool to use is the light and heavy tool from Access Consciousness®. When you ask a question, pay attention to how you feel in your body. If you have the sense of lightness and expansion, it is true for you. If you feel like you have knots in your stomach or a heavy sensation in your body, it’s usually that it is not true for you.
Question of Choice Yields Resounding Answers
We can use this tool to help make choices such as:
-“If I choose this, what will my business be like in 5 years? 10 years? 50 years?”, and
-“If I don’t choose this, what will my business be like in 5 years? 10 years? 50 years?”
-Do I have the information I require to get started?
-Do I have the skills to complete it the way it is required?
Most potent of all is the ability to sit in the question without seeking answers to it. This allows the greatest possibilities to flow to you (the energy of go!) without you coming to conclusions about the situation (the energy of stop!). In this case, ask questions that invite in possibility, such as:
-What do I desire?
-Have I considered what other choices and options are available?
-What is really being asked of me?
-Who or what can I add to my team/project to complete this project the way it requires?
Insightful Questions Bring Business Wisdom
It is incredibly common for business leaders to have a fear of failure; a fear that can paralyze forward momentum and stifle creativity. But realize that we base this fear on preconceived ideas of how we think life, or our business, should be.
For our businesses to be all they can be, we must learn to move beyond the fear of being wrong and learn to make a choice – any choice – and enable the energy of our business to move forward. But we don’t have to make these choices blindly. By asking questions and inviting in the information, without judgment, we hold the key to incredible business wisdom.
About the Author
Laleh Alemzadeh-Hancock is a management consultant, Joy of Business® facilitator and the founder and CEO of Belapemo and not-for-profit, Global Wellness For All. https://accessjoyofbusiness.com/facilitator/lalehhancock/
