The Answer Is a Question summary

In the search for that new approach, many organizations have landed on what seems like a logical answer: coaching. You’ve probably seen or even participated in this solution yourself, through the rise of “Manager as Coach” or “Leader as Coach” programs. On the surface, they promise to build a more supportive, engaging culture where leaders help their people develop.

These initiatives are well-intentioned, backed by significant global investment, and often receive positive feedback from the managers who attend them. But here’s the thing – they consistently fail to produce any lasting behavioral change or measurable return on investment. In fact, when employees are surveyed about the skills their managers demonstrate most effectively, coaching skills consistently rank at the very bottom of the list.

So let’s explore what this internal work actually looks like in practice. So much of your day is governed by a state of professional autopilot, where you react to situations without conscious thought. When a team member brings you a problem, your default response is likely to jump in and solve it for them. Why is that? Put simply, it’s because that’s the habit you’ve built over years of being rewarded for having the answers.

The first and most critical step in this new approach is to simply Stop. To master it, you must create triggers. A trigger is a pre-rehearsed mental cue for a recurring situation where you tend to react unhelpfully. Just imagine a colleague approaching your desk and, instead of instantly offering a solution, you see yourself pausing, taking a breath, and stepping back.

Having mastered your internal state, you’re now ready to engage. This is where the model shifts from silent, internal work to skillful, external action. The primary tool for this engagement is the question, which is the heart of the A in STAR – Ask.

As a manager, your default communication mode is likely “advocacy” – telling, giving advice, and stating your views. The goal here is to consciously shift into a state of “enquiry” – expressing curiosity, seeking input, and being genuinely willing to listen.

For all the pressure you feel and the endless tasks on your list, the single greatest personal benefit you’ll receive from the STAR approach is the gift of time. This is a proven outcome. A major, academically robust research study conducted by the London School of Economics proved that managers who learned and applied this method fundamentally changed how they spent their day. They increased the proportion of time spent coaching their teams by an incredible 70 percent, while significantly decreasing the amount of time they spent “doing” the work themselves. 

This shift happens for a simple reason: as you empower your team members to think for themselves and solve their own problems, they become more capable and confident. They stop leaning on you for every answer, which frees you from the constant cycle of firefighting and allows you to focus on the higher-value, strategic work that truly defines leadership.