Ask More

### By Frank Sesno

**Estimated Reading Time:** 45 minutes

**What You'll Learn:**

- How to diagnose problems with precision and uncover root causes - How to build trust with people who do not want to talk to you - How to hold powerful people accountable without losing your composure - How to spark creativity, inspire teams, and assess talent - How to use questions to build deeper relationships and live with greater intention

**Who This Book Is For:**

Anyone who has ever walked away from a conversation wishing they had asked better questions. Whether you are a manager trying to understand why a project failed, a parent trying to connect with a distant teenager, a professional preparing for a critical interview, or simply someone who wants to live a more examined life, this book will change how you approach every conversation.

Every meaningful conversation begins with a question. Every breakthrough, every diagnosis, every reconciliation, every innovation traces back to someone who had the courage to ask something that had not been asked before, or to ask it in a way that finally got an honest answer. Yet most of us are never taught how to ask questions well. We learn to answer them. We spend years in classrooms raising our hands, filling in bubbles, and writing essays that demonstrate what we know. But the art of asking, the craft of inquiry, remains strangely neglected. We assume that questions are simply the absence of answers, that they are gaps to be filled rather than tools to be wielded. Frank Sesno has spent his life asking questions. As a CNN anchor, White House correspondent, and Washington bureau chief, he interviewed presidents and prime ministers, scientists and soldiers, victims and perpetrators. He learned that the right question, asked at the right moment, in the right way, could change everything. A well-crafted question could disarm a hostile subject, reveal a hidden truth, or open a door that had been sealed shut. But Sesno also discovered something surprising. The questioning skills he developed in the newsroom were not just for journalists. They were universal. The same techniques that helped him extract information from evasive politicians could help a doctor understand a patient's real symptoms. The same patience that allowed him to build rapport with reluctant sources could help a manager understand why a talented employee was disengaging. The same courage that enabled him to confront powerful people could help anyone hold a difficult conversation with honesty and grace. The problem is that most people do not think about questions this way. They ask questions reactively, instinctively, without strategy or intention. They ask questions that are too broad or too narrow, too leading or too vague.…