{"id":3845,"date":"2014-11-13T23:22:26","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T07:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/?p=3845"},"modified":"2014-11-16T22:57:29","modified_gmt":"2014-11-17T06:57:29","slug":"positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Positive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"positive<\/a>Soon after I turned 16, I took a young lady on a date around the lake late at night to watch the moon come up. When it was time to go home, I started the car, drove maybe a quarter mile, and the car stopped. In shock I noticed that the gas gauge registered \u201cE.\u201d So my date and I started walking. When we arrived at my home her parents and my parents were waiting up for us. As soon as she left with her parents, my dad started in. Here are some of the questions that he asked:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you think \u201cE\u201d on the gas gauge meant?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you think it meant \u201cEnough?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow far did you think you could drive with the needle on \u201cE?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think you will \u201cE-ver\u201d see her again?\u201d<\/p>\n

Although this went on for some time, I really didn\u2019t have the presence of mind to answer rationally. I remember just standing there staring at the ground and feeling more and more worthless by the minute.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately when things go wrong or when the results aren\u2019t what was expected, some managers will ask questions in this manner. These types of questions are not really meant to be answered. They are really disguised statements of frustration or contempt for the current situation. The problem is that when an individual is belittled with these types of questions, the individual must invariably resort to the past in an attempt to defend themselves or their current actions.<\/p>\n

The following common questions attack an individual from a number of perspectives. I refer to these types of questions as \u201cnegative\u201d questions because they result in defensiveness and they do not explore or help to solve the problem. Taking a moment to formulate more \u201cpositive\u201d questions can produce a much more desirable result. Let\u2019s review a few examples.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you decide that \u2026?\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Notice that this question attacks the judgment<\/strong> of the individual. You can see how a person has to retreat to the past and explain their reasoning or rationale to explain their decision. This question is really a disguised statement for \u201cYou made a bad decision.\u201d Think of how much more useful it would be to ask instead, \u201cGiven what happened, what would you do differently next time?\u201d Notice that this question forces the individual to think about the future and how they might solve the problem. This type of question has a more positive effect on the individual and the process that needs to be improved.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did you do it like that?\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This question criticizes the effort<\/strong> of the person. No one is going purposely attempt something that they think will not work. This negative question is really saying, \u201cYou did this incorrectly.\u201d Instead of asking the previous negative question, think of how much more effective it would have been to ask, \u201cWhat were you hoping to achieve by doing what you did?\u201d followed by, \u201cWhat would you change the next time around?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShouldn\u2019t you have\u2026?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This question is about giving advice<\/strong>. Advice is usually signaled by the use of the words \u201cshould,\u201d \u201ccould\u201d, or \u201cwould.\u201d The only problem with giving advice is that you assume that you know what the person was thinking at the moment and that your thinking would have resulted in a better outcome than what they achieved. In reality, the only evidence that you have for these assumptions is that you thought them. Consequently, this question is really stating, \u201cI need you to do this this way.\u201d However, because you never asked to understand, you still haven\u2019t discovered the reasoning behind the other person\u2019s behavior which produced the undesirable result. How much better to ask these positive questions: \u201cWhat prompted you to alter the procedure?\u201d \u201cDo you believe you might get a different result if you followed the same plan?\u201d \u201cWhy or Why not?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you the one who blew it?\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the same as saying, \u201cYou blew it!\u201d This question simply assigns blame<\/strong>.The person obviously knows that something he or she did didn\u2019t work out. The motivation for using such a question could be none other than to point out and emphasize the obvious. Doing so does not inspire confidence or motivation moving forward. Asking the following questions would be more effective: \u201cWhere could you have used some help or support?\u201d \u201cWhat did you learn from what happened?\u201d and \u201cWhat would you do differently going forward?\u201d Notice that these questions allow you to see the other person\u2019s point of view while inspiring them to think and evaluate a future course of action.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t you know that\u2026?\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the same as saying, \u201cYou don\u2019t have a clue about what you are doing!\u201d The purpose of making such a statement is to make a point<\/strong> while challenging the person\u2019s capability. You would be better off asking something like, \u201cWhat was most important about how you chose to accomplish the task?\u201d Such a question provides insight into the value that the person assigned to doing what they did. I also provides insight into what they didn\u2019t know, understand, or the priority they assigned to their action. It is more important to explore their thinking to produce a different result rather than demeaning them for something they didn\u2019t know. You want to create a moment for teaching and coaching to improve results.<\/p>\n

Often the negative questions above emerge out of a degree of frustration in the moment. If you have a tendency to ask such questions, you need to take a moment to restore your rationality before addressing the individual. Using \u201cpositive\u201d questions or questions that provoke another\u2019s thinking take time to formulate. Taking time to ask yourself what you really want to know and how you might ask certain questions requires deliberate focus on your part. Asking positive questions will help create an atmosphere of trust and respect that will lead to stronger working relationships and better results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soon after I turned 16, I took a young lady on a date around the lake late at night to watch the moon come up. When it was time to go home, I started the car, drove maybe a quarter mile, and the car stopped. In shock I noticed that the gas gauge registered \u201cE.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2956,"featured_media":3846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8,38],"class_list":["post-3845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-sector-trends","tag-leadership","tag-management-government-administration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPositive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust - Careers in Government<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Positive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust - Careers in Government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Soon after I turned 16, I took a young lady on a date around the lake late at night to watch the moon come up. When it was time to go home, I started the car, drove maybe a quarter mile, and the car stopped. In shock I noticed that the gas gauge registered \u201cE.\u201d […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Careers in Government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CareersInGovernment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueWORKS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-14T07:22:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-17T06:57:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/positive-questions.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"334\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Stoker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JohnRStoker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@careersingov\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Stoker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John Stoker\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/df0f8ac4bc78cf35d65d45f2e4769393\"},\"headline\":\"Positive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-14T07:22:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-17T06:57:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1007,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/positive-questions.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"leadership\",\"management. government administration\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Trends\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/\",\"name\":\"Positive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust - Careers in Government\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/positive-questions.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-14T07:22:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-17T06:57:29+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/positive-questions.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/positive-questions.jpg\",\"width\":334,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"A person sits on a wooden stool facing a concrete wall, dressed in a black suit and wearing a white cone-shaped dunce cap. The lighting casts a large shadow of the hat on the wall, raising questions about their predicament.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Tools\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Government Talk\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/newdesign\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"About the Public Sector\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/newdesign\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Trends\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/newdesign\\\/tools\\\/gov-talk\\\/about-gov\\\/public-sector-trends\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Positive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/\",\"name\":\"Careers in Government\",\"description\":\"Oldest and largest, award-winning site for finding jobs in government, education and other public sector agencies. Valuable tools for job seekers and employers.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Careers in Government\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/CIG-horizontal-dark-v2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/CIG-horizontal-dark-v2.png\",\"width\":\"708\",\"height\":\"480\",\"caption\":\"Careers in Government\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/CareersInGovernment\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/careersingov\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/careersingov\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/df0f8ac4bc78cf35d65d45f2e4769393\",\"name\":\"John Stoker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/246c3dcb3e3e96e3597f88846c45e39e9585294d359669ebf3a125de8b865f00?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/246c3dcb3e3e96e3597f88846c45e39e9585294d359669ebf3a125de8b865f00?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/246c3dcb3e3e96e3597f88846c45e39e9585294d359669ebf3a125de8b865f00?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Stoker\"},\"description\":\"John R. Stoker is the author of \u201cOvercoming Fake Talk\u201d and the president of DialogueWORKS, Inc. His organization helps clients and their teams improve leadership engagement in order to achieve superior results. He is an expert in the fields of leadership, change, dialogue, critical thinking, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence, and has worked and spoken to such companies as Cox Communications, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and AbbVie. Connect with him on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.dialogueworks.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/DialogueWORKS\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/JohnRStoker\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.careersingovernment.com\\\/tools\\\/author\\\/johnst\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Positive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust - Careers in Government","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Positive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust - Careers in Government","og_description":"Soon after I turned 16, I took a young lady on a date around the lake late at night to watch the moon come up. When it was time to go home, I started the car, drove maybe a quarter mile, and the car stopped. In shock I noticed that the gas gauge registered \u201cE.\u201d […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/","og_site_name":"Careers in Government","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CareersInGovernment","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueWORKS","article_published_time":"2014-11-14T07:22:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-11-17T06:57:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":334,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/positive-questions.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John Stoker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@JohnRStoker","twitter_site":"@careersingov","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Stoker","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/"},"author":{"name":"John Stoker","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#\/schema\/person\/df0f8ac4bc78cf35d65d45f2e4769393"},"headline":"Positive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust","datePublished":"2014-11-14T07:22:26+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-17T06:57:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/"},"wordCount":1007,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/positive-questions.jpg","keywords":["leadership","management. government administration"],"articleSection":["Trends"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/","url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/","name":"Positive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust - Careers in Government","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/positive-questions.jpg","datePublished":"2014-11-14T07:22:26+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-17T06:57:29+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/positive-questions.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/positive-questions.jpg","width":334,"height":500,"caption":"A person sits on a wooden stool facing a concrete wall, dressed in a black suit and wearing a white cone-shaped dunce cap. The lighting casts a large shadow of the hat on the wall, raising questions about their predicament."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/positive-questions-create-atmosphere-trust\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Tools","item":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Government Talk","item":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/newdesign\/tools\/gov-talk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"About the Public Sector","item":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/newdesign\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Trends","item":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/newdesign\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/public-sector-trends\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Positive Questions: Create an Atmosphere of Trust"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/","name":"Careers in Government","description":"Oldest and largest, award-winning site for finding jobs in government, education and other public sector agencies. Valuable tools for job seekers and employers.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#organization","name":"Careers in Government","url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/CIG-horizontal-dark-v2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/CIG-horizontal-dark-v2.png","width":"708","height":"480","caption":"Careers in Government"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CareersInGovernment","https:\/\/x.com\/careersingov","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/careersingov\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#\/schema\/person\/df0f8ac4bc78cf35d65d45f2e4769393","name":"John Stoker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/246c3dcb3e3e96e3597f88846c45e39e9585294d359669ebf3a125de8b865f00?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/246c3dcb3e3e96e3597f88846c45e39e9585294d359669ebf3a125de8b865f00?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/246c3dcb3e3e96e3597f88846c45e39e9585294d359669ebf3a125de8b865f00?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John Stoker"},"description":"John R. Stoker is the author of \u201cOvercoming Fake Talk\u201d and the president of DialogueWORKS, Inc. His organization helps clients and their teams improve leadership engagement in order to achieve superior results. He is an expert in the fields of leadership, change, dialogue, critical thinking, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence, and has worked and spoken to such companies as Cox Communications, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and AbbVie. Connect with him on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.dialogueworks.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueWORKS","https:\/\/x.com\/JohnRStoker"],"url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/author\/johnst\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2956"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3845"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3848,"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions\/3848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}