I believe any leadership training should include the best ways to address challenging questions. As a leader in your organization, you’ve probably received challenging questions for which you were not prepared with an answer. Did you improvise your way through an answer you weren’t happy with? Did you walk away stumped, kicking yourself for not immediately knowing how to respond?
Often, these questions are merely intended to put a manager or executive in the hot seat. Next time, dig deeper to find out what’s really behind that question. Don’t be afraid to speak up and tell that person:
Before I can respond to this question, what’s prompting you to ask me that?”
It’s a great question for clarifying leadership training issues and concerns in preparation for bringing them up later to discuss in detail.
