Leading@Google: Robert Steven Kaplan - What to Ask the Person in the Mirror

Robert S. Kaplan is the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development at Harvard University. He is the author of What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential (2011), which is the topic of his talk at Google that same year.

About the book:

Successful leaders know that leadership is less often about having all the answers—and more often about asking the right questions. The challenge lies in being able to step back, reflect, and ask the key questions that are critical to your performance and your organization’s effectiveness.

In What to Ask the Person in the Mirror, HBS professor and business leader Robert Kaplan presents a process for asking the big questions that will enable you to diagnose problems, change course if necessary, and advance your career. He lays out areas of inquiry, including questions such as:

•Do I clearly articulate my vision and top priorities to my employees and key constituencies?
•Does the way I spend my time enable me to achieve my top priorities?
•Do I give subordinates timely and direct feedback they can act on? Do I actively seek feedback myself?
•Have I developed a succession roadmap?
•Is my organization’s design aligned with the achievement of its objectives?
•Is my leadership style still effective, and does it reflect who I truly am?

Packed with real-life situations, this highly readable and practical guide helps you learn to ask the right questions—and work through the answers in ways that are right for you. By asking these questions, you can tackle the inevitable challenges of leadership as you craft new strategies for staying on top of your game.

 All of us who act as leaders in any capacity can learn from this approach to leadership.

Leading@Google: Robert Steven Kaplan

Uploaded on Oct 20, 2011

Robert Steven Kaplan | What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential


In What to Ask the Person in the Mirror, Kaplan offers a concise and engaging guide to help executives improve their effectiveness as leaders. At the core of the book is a series of critical questions to help you lead your organization more successfully and take ownership of your career. Based on his extensive experience as a senior business executive, professor at Harvard Business School, and an advisor to leaders worldwide, Kaplan provides a simple, powerful framework that includes seven key areas for inquiry that will resonate with business leaders in both the commercial and the nonprofit sectors.