How to Ask Powerful Coaching Questions That Drive Performance

If you manage people, chances are you’ve felt the pressure to have all the answers. But here’s the truth: the best leaders don’t always have the answers—they know how to ask the right questions.

It’s a subtle shift, but a powerful one. When you lead with curiosity instead of direction, you help your team think for themselves, take ownership, and grow. That’s what coaching is all about.

Let’s talk about how to ask better questions—ones that actually lead to learning, action, and performance.

Why Questions Matter More Than You Think

There’s some solid research behind the idea that questions are a superpower. One Harvard study found that people who ask more questions—especially follow-up questions—build stronger relationships and get better outcomes. Gallup also tells us that when managers have meaningful, regular conversations with their people (not just status updates), employees are way more likely to be engaged and perform at a higher level.

In other words, asking good questions isn’t just a nice-to-have leadership skill. It’s a performance driver.

So… What Makes a Good Coaching Question?

In my experience—and in most of the coaching literature out there—a great coaching question does three things:

It puts the other person in the driver’s seat. They own the solution.
It sparks reflection. You get past surface-level thinking.
It leads somewhere. There’s a clear next step or insight to act on.

The best questions are open-ended (no yes/no answers), come from genuine curiosity, and are free of judgment or agenda. That last one is harder than it sounds.

10 Coaching Questions That Actually Help People Grow

If you’re not sure where to start, here are ten questions I’ve seen work again and again—whether I’m coaching a leader at a Fortune 500 company or helping a new manager navigate team dynamics:

What’s the outcome you’re aiming for here?
- Helps people get clear on their goal before jumping into solutions.
What’s feeling stuck or challenging about this?
- Opens the door for real talk about what’s getting in the way.
What options have you considered already?
- Encourages autonomy and creativity.
What support do you need from me—without me taking this over?
- Balances empowerment with partnership.
What feedback have you received—or are you looking for?
- Builds a feedback culture and reflection muscle.
What’s one thing you could try this week?
- Brings things down to earth and builds momentum.
What did you take away from that experience?
- Helps people reflect and learn instead of just move on.
Where can you lean into your strengths here?
- Re-centers confidence and what’s already working.
What would ‘success’ look like in this situation?
- Aligns vision and helps define what good actually means.
What’s holding you back right now?
- Gets underneath the surface and invites honesty.

You don’t need to ask all ten in one conversation. Pick one or two and really listen.

A Few Traps to Avoid

Even seasoned leaders fall into a few common traps when trying to “coach”:

Leading questions (“Don’t you think it’d be better to just…?”)
Asking too many questions in a row (it starts to feel like an interrogation)
Sneaky advice disguised as questions (“Have you tried doing it like I would?”)

The goal isn’t to steer them toward your answer—it’s to help them get to theirs.

Embrace the Pause

This one’s underrated. After you ask a meaningful question, stop talking. Seriously. Give it a beat. Let the silence do some work.

It might feel awkward, but that space often gives the other person time to think—and that's where the good stuff happens.

You Don’t Need to Be a Coach to Coach

You don’t need a certification to start using coaching questions in your day-to-day leadership. You just need curiosity, humility, and the willingness to slow down and listen.

Try it in your next one-on-one. Lead with a question instead of an answer. You might be surprised at what your team is capable of—when you give them the space to figure it out for themselves.