- Leadership Pulse
- Posts
- The Power of One Good Question
The Power of One Good Question
Ikechukwu Okoh
June 16, 2025
THE LEADERSHIP PULSE
Good morning, and welcome to a new week.
Please subscribe to our weekly newsletter if you have yet to do so.
Here, I share weekly actionable strategies and lessons from my experiences as a healthcare leader, entrepreneur, and angel investor.
The Leadership Pulse newsletter will equip you with insights for creating lasting impact, whether navigating leadership challenges, building cohesive teams, or scaling a startup.
In my early years of leadership, I entered a board meeting with a thick file of slides, strategy documents, and projections.
I believed that my value lay in having all the answers.
However, during the meeting, an older executive leaned over and whispered,
"The smartest leader in the room isn’t the one who speaks the most; it’s the one who asks the right question that captures everyone's attention."
That day, I paused and asked,
"What would this look like if it were easy?"
Silence followed.
Heads turned, and ideas started to flow.
I learned something profound: asking the right question can unlock more progress than a thousand clever statements.
Strategy Deep Dive: The One-Question Leadership Model
Top-performing leaders don’t focus on knowing everything.
Instead, they master the art of asking questions that drive meaningful dialogue.
Below is a model I often use:
1. Challenge-Driven Questions
- “What are we pretending not to know?”
- “If we stopped doing this today, what would break?”
2. Future-Forward Questions
- “If this worked better than expected, what would success look like?”
- “What decision would we make if we weren’t afraid?”
3. Simplicity Questions
- “What would this look like if it were easy?”
- “What’s the 80/20 here?”
This framework is not only reflective but also directive.
It provides clarity, uncovers blind spots, and accelerates execution.
Use it in your next meeting and observe the energy shift that occurs.
Listen to Episode 1 of the Fireplace Conversations
Ikechukwu’s Journal
This week, I conducted a session with a healthcare startup in Lagos.
The founder was struggling with growth, overwhelmed by too many ideas and lacking clarity.
Instead of offering advice, I asked, “What’s working right now that we haven’t focused on more?”
After just ten minutes, they realised that a single referral partnership was responsible for 65% of their new clients, and they weren’t even nurturing that relationship.
Leadership isn’t solely about providing answers; it’s about gaining clarity.
And clarity comes from asking better questions.
What to do this week:
Start every 1-on-1 with a single significant question
In your next strategy meeting, ask: “What are we overcomplicating?”
Journal three questions that will challenge your current thinking
If this resonates with you, consider the potential impact it could have on your network.
Please share it on LinkedIn or forward it to a friend who might benefit from it.
Are you new here?
Subscribe to receive Leadership Pulse every Monday at 7 AM.
Join my newsletters:
Leadership Pulse: https://lnkd.in/dgWQz9tx
Rise & Conquer: https://lnkd.in/drRHgqKx
→ Get my free guide – The Authority Playbook: https://lnkd.in/dHDkzcnH
Feel free to share this newsletter with a colleague or peer who could benefit from these insights.
Subscribe to Rise & Conquer, our daily newsletter on Linkedin.
Each morning at 5:00 AM, I share powerful lessons on mindset, leadership, and high performance.
I offer the following services:
Executive Coaching for Healthcare Leaders: Tailored strategies for effective leadership in uncertain times.
Healthcare Consulting Services: Insights to enhance operational efficiency, compliance, and patient care.
Advisory for Healthcare Startups: Support with scaling, investor pitching, and regulatory navigation.
Subscribe to the Leadership Pulse newsletter. It is amazing.- Tolu Ekwe.
Please stay connected with me:
Ikechukwu Okoh
Founder of Leadership Pulse
Reply