Power Questions: Build Relationships, Win New Business, and Influence Others

partner? Your boss? Your employees or your colleagues? Do you know
what these same people expect from you? Have you ever asked them what
they need?
The fifth and final question is the one I originally failed to write down.
Perhaps this happened because Drucker mentioned it at the end of the most
stimulating day of my life. My head was exploding with new ideas and
excitement.
This final question is, “What is your plan?” This is as equally applicable
to your personal life as it is to an organization. You've clarified your
mission, what you stand for. You are clear about the people you want to
invest in a relationship with. You have developed a deep understanding of
what each person values, of what is important to them. They know what to
expect from you and what you expect from them.

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Your final step is to identify your plan—the short, medium, and long-term
actions that will get you to where you want to go. Without a plan, you may
go just about anywhere. Or nowhere.
There you have it, Peter Drucker's most important questions— hailed as
the most consequential examination ever posed by a writer. Use these
questions to guide you. To push you. Ask them of others. Frequently.
Keep in mind what Helen Keller said: “Life is a daring adventure.” Begin
now with your mission statement.
Challenge yourself to your core. Ask yourself—and others— Peter
Drucker's five questions about Mission, People, Value, Expectations,
and a Plan.
Suggestions for How to Use Peter Drucker's
Five Questions in Your Personal Life
1. What is your mission?
2. Which are the most important relationships you want to invest in?
3. What are the essential priorities and goals of those closest to you?
4. What are your expectations of the people around you, and what do they
expect of you?
5. What is your plan?
The great management thinker Peter Drucker used to pose five questions to his
clients, focusing on Mission, Customers, Value, Results, and a Plan. These clients were
large corporations but also major nonprofit organizations like the American Red Cross
and the Girl Scouts. During his questioning sessions, Drucker would shake up even the
most confident CEOs.
Now, turn these questions onto your own life. Use them to challenge yourself. Make
the implicit explicit. Take a moment to lower the water in the river, and examine what's
really under the surface, what's lying on the exposed banks of your life. Do you want to
be ruled by serendipity, or conscious and planned choices?
Use all of these questions when you are coaching or mentoring others. Use just one
of them according to the situation. If someone is trying to build a key relationship, ask
“Do you know what that person's priorities and goals are right now?” If the other person
is in a leadership position—as either a professional or a parent—ask “Do others know
what you expect of them? Have you made that clear?”

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