The Best Conversations Begin with Better Questions
One thing I've noticed...
The older I get...
The less interested I become in having all the answers.
I'm becoming much more interested in asking better questions.
Questions have a way of slowing us down.
They remind us that we don't know everything.
And maybe that's a healthy place to be.
I've never walked away from a great conversation thinking...
"They gave me incredible advice."
Usually I leave thinking...
"They asked me something I've never thought about before."
That's different.
Questions don't force people to change.
They invite people to think.
The more conversations we host on Behind the X's & O's...
The more convinced I become that people already carry a lot of the answers they're looking for.
Sometimes they simply need someone willing to ask the next question.
"What have you learned?"
"What surprised you?"
"What would you do differently?"
"What are you still figuring out?"
Those questions have opened doors that no speech ever could.
One thing I've noticed is that people don't usually remember the smartest person in the room.
They remember the person who made them feel heard.
Maybe that's because listening is one of the purest forms of respect.
It's hard to listen while you're busy preparing your next response.
It's even harder to learn something when you've already decided you know everything.
The longer we build this business...
The more I realize that our podcast isn't successful because we ask perfect questions.
It's successful because we're genuinely curious about people.
Every person has a story worth hearing.
Sometimes all it takes is one thoughtful question for that story to begin.
— Ruben Escalona
Red Alpha Custom Prints
What Healthy Actually Looks Like
Healthy people don't feel the need to be the smartest voice in every conversation. They become students of the people around them, asking thoughtful questions and listening with genuine curiosity.
Sometimes the greatest gift you can give someone isn't your opinion. It's your attention.