A GREAT CEO DOESN’T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS… JUST THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

I sat in on a call this week between a founder, their leadership team, and their investor. All focused on unlocking more value from the business.

It was clear the team was talented, motivated, and quite capable. All be it a little stretched from trying to make sense of the demands. Not because they didn’t know what they were doing, but because they were constantly chasing answers.

“A great CEO (and fCEO) doesn’t have all the answers. Just the right questions.”

And that was what was missing…

✅ A question-led CEO unlocks thinking. They create space for others to bring solutions and grow through shared insights and views.

❌ An answer-driven CEO becomes the bottleneck. They respond fast, but often shut down creativity, autonomy, and long-term decision-making.

The latter was true in this case. A great founder…just more answers than questions. Sound familiar?

In my experience, this is what I have found to be true:

• A CEO who asks questions builds capability. A CEO who always has the answer builds dependency.
• A CEO who asks questions invites curiosity. A CEO who gives answers shuts it down.
• A CEO who asks questions grows leaders. A CEO who gives answers grows followers.
• A CEO who asks questions guides strategy. A CEO who gives answers manages tasks.
• A CEO who asks questions drives ownership. A CEO who gives answers owns everything.

Need to shift that dynamic?

The quality of your leadership is directly tied to the quality of your questions…not your answers. And that’s where the right fractional leader can help. Not to override, but to guide. Not to give all the answers, but to ask the right questions at the right time.