I remember a conversation I had with my then boss Anil Kapoor around ‘reflection’. He took over an ailing ad agency (Ulka), built a senior management team and managed to turn around the fortunes of the agency in just a few years. The MD’s cabin at Ulka overlooked the ‘Queen’s Necklace’ or the Marine Drive in Mumbai.

He once told me that during the early years of his tenure, he used to sit and look out at the sea, sometimes for an hour or more. He was not daydreaming but was reflecting on the future of the agency and the professionals who worked in the agency. And according to him those hours were very well spent.

In the book Why Great Leaders Ask Great Questions by Steve Mostyn, I came across the importance of reflection for leaders, once again.

Mostyn is a leading designer of senior executive leadership programmes. He is Associate Fellow at the Said Business School, University of Oxford. He has developed innovative solutions around adaptive leadership for leadership training for corporations.

The best leaders do not always have the best answers. But they have the uncanny ability to ask the best questions. In my own coaching practice, I am constantly reminded that as a coach I should not provide the answers but should get my coachee discover the right answers for himself or herself. My only tool is the art of asking questions.

The seven questions

In his book, Mostyn shares with us seven essential questions that every aspiring leader should internalise. The seven questions are: How do I reflect; How do I spend my time; Where does my power come from: How do I grow my network; How do I make change happen around here; How do I manage my energy; How do I grow more leaders.

Reflective practices invite us to experiment and try new ways of acting: reflect – experiment- change yourself- resultantly change the situation. In our coaching practice one of the most powerful things that we ask our coachees to do is to maintain a ‘journal’. In this journal a coachee is expected to write down their thoughts after reflecting on the week gone by.

The next question is around how a leader spends her / his time. Time is the scarcest resource and unless that is managed nothing else can be managed.

The author provides an interesting analogy of micro and macro management. In micromanagement we get into the minutiae of the business often losing the big picture. In macro management we only look at the big picture often not spending enough time on the smaller details. Mostyn introduces us to the concept of dance floor and the balcony.

If we only spend time on the dance floor, we will not know who is dancing well and who is dancing with whom. For that you have to go to the balcony. But if you spend all the time in the balcony, you will never be able to dance. As a leader you need to ask yourself the question ‘Where should I be spending my time for the betterment of the business’.

The author introduces us to the three critical questions (again standard questions for a coach): What would you like to stop doing; what would you like to start doing and what would you like to continue doing?

Leadership work is political

The third question is around power. Where does it come from? As a leader you need to dig deeper into situations and ask the three questions: What’s going on? What else is going on? And, what’s really going on? Leaders often say that they don’t play politics.

The author warns us that all leadership work is ‘political’. You have to be interested in finding out how power is shared and distributed around you. And remember where you get your power from.

The fourth question is around networks. The author tells us we often confuse between ‘networking’ and ‘networks’. Networking, or attending industry events and sharing visiting cards is not the source to build a good network.

Good networks are built by consciously cultivating high quality relationships. And these networks need to be strategic, personal and operational. We often focus on the strong ties. But the magic may lie in having a number of ‘weak ties’. The Dunbar Number (cognitive limit of 150 individuals) finds mention.

The last three questions cover areas like making change happen, how to manage one’s energy and how to grow more leaders. Each chapter ends with a quick summary for you to get a quick review. The last chapter gives you a nice ‘balcony’ view of the whole book.

What I found also useful were the numerous examples quoted and actual quotes from leaders were shared. The book contains numerous references and examples including books and podcasts. I did miss out mentions of legendary leaders that is standard fare for any book on leaders. But may be that is what is setting this book apart from all those leadership books that are out there crying for your attention.

If you are a leader, or aspiring to be a leader, this book will be a useful read. Even if you just learn the importance of ‘self-reflection’, that my boss used to indulge in, it will be worth the money you put down.

Book details

Book Name: Why Great Leaders Ask Great Questions

Author: Steve Mostyn

Published: John Murray Business

Pages: 256

Price: ₹699

You can find the book here.

(The reviewer is a bestselling author of 12 books. His latest book, Marketing Mixology, presents four essential skills for marketing success)

Published on October 15, 2025