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Writer's pictureHarry T. Jones

Unlocking Business Breakthroughs With Great Questions

In my journey as a business coach and author, I’ve come to realize that asking the right questions can sometimes be more powerful than giving good answers.


As I mention in my book “Succession Planning for Impact,” becoming an “encourager-in-chief” involves “asking a lot of great questions and having the discipline not to answer them!”

businessman with a questioning look
Becoming an “encourager-in-chief” involves “asking a lot of great questions and having the discipline not to answer them!

Recently, I’ve had the privilege of facilitating several business events where leaders shared thought-provoking questions about succession planning and leadership. I’d like to share some of these questions with you:

  • How do you plan for your business when your children have no interest in taking it over?

  • How do you transition into allowing employees to buy in?

  • What do you do with employees with a poor work ethic and lack of respect or consideration for their boss and coworkers?

  • How do you determine when you have finished your succession planning?

  • What do you do when the obvious successor is a family member and is unqualified?

  • How do you do succession planning when you are too busy just surviving?

  • What was the most challenging aspect of writing your book?

  • Which part of your succession planning concepts do you wish you had been better at?

  • Do you love the team you are with, or love the things you are doing? Which aspect of your work brings you more joy and satisfaction - the relationships and interactions with your colleagues, or the actual content of your work?

  • How long did it take you to realize that succession planning was a problem in most organizations?

  • How can businesses rebound from a failure to plan?

  • What advice do you have for those who find themselves halfway through life and have not planned for succession? What is the first step to getting started?

  • How do you know when you should sell?

  • How do you work with local business leaders to apply 7 steps of succession planning?

  • Does the succession planning process provide an entry point to help people with conflict and emotional processes?

  • What role do spouses play in this process?

  • My wife and I have four young children, and I have owned my business for ten years. As someone who has been through all kinds of seasons, good and bad, in business and life, what advice would you give someone like myself who is early on in my journey with business and family?


Your Turn: Share Your Questions

Now, I’d love to hear from you. What questions have you found particularly powerful in your business journey? What questions do you wish someone had asked you earlier in your career? What questions would you like an answer to?


I would love to hear from you. I want to answer your questions in new content. Would you hit reply and share them with me? Your insights could be the catalyst for another leader’s breakthrough!

Remember, as I often say to the entrepreneurs I mentor, “With the right questions, the facts become clear, and solutions will jump out at you.”


Let’s start a dialogue of discovery. Your question could be the key to unlocking someone else’s potential!


Harry T. Jones


P.S. Hit reply today and share your significant questions with me.

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