Praise for ask
Ask has received critical acclaim from a wide range of voices:
from iconic CEOs to bestselling authors to leading academics;
from the corporate world to the education field to the nonprofit sector.
“In Ask, Jeff Wetzler goes deep on the first step in the Radical Candor order of operations: solicit candor. The book provides an invaluable, highly actionable method for drawing out the real thoughts, feelings, and experiences of those around you. If you want to build relationships and organizations rooted in honesty and openness -- improving learning, innovation, and results in the process -- this book is required reading. Ask gets to the heart of what it takes to invite the full humanity of those around you.”
– Kim Scott, bestselling author of Radical Candor and Radical Respect
“Most people see value in sharpening their listening skills, but few know where to start. This book is an actionable guide to improving at inquiry—and to learning more and bonding more with the people around you.”
- Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of HIDDEN POTENTIAL and THINK AGAIN, and host of the podcast Re:Thinking
“At the root of all transformative change is our ability to bring curiosity, questions and deep listening to connect with one another – especially with those different from us. In Ask, Jeff Wetzler breaks down this deceptively difficult task into incredibly practical steps, opening up new possibilities for leadership, love, and liberation.”
– Thaly Germain, CEO of Onward and Managing Director of Transformation and Culture at Berlin Rosen
“Jeff Wetzler teaches a profoundly useful truth: questions can be better than answers. Even more, he has deep practical insight about how to ask great questions, both as an art form and a systematic discipline. If people everywhere increased their questions to statements ratio, replacing self-certainty with genuine curiosity, the world would be a better place - and I hope Jeff’s book inspires people to do exactly that.”
— Jim Collins, bestselling author Good to Great
"Ask is a great primer for leaders to improve the quality of their conversations with their teams and support deeper learning and relationships. Through compelling stories, it vividly exemplifies key concepts while equipping you with practical, hands-on tools to enhance your collaborative efforts with colleagues."
— Susana Córdova, Commissioner of Education, State of Colorado
"In Ask, Jeff Wetzler demystifies the art and science of asking the right questions to move beyond perfunctory responses. The tools offered in this book, which Jeff models better than anyone I know, provide a practical roadmap to a more productive, collaborative and effective approach to both personal and professional interactions.”
— Irene Rosenfeld, Former Chair and CEO of Kraft Foods and Mondelēz International
“Moving, inspiring, thoroughly researched, and deeply practical, this book shows that we all have the power to change the world, simply by cultivating our own and others’ curiosity and nurturing the learning and connection it creates. An engaging must-read for leaders, teammates, parents, educators, and even students — everyone!”
– Bruce Patton, Coauthor of mega-bestsellers Getting to YES and Difficult Conversations, and Cofounder of the Harvard Negotiation Project and the Rebuild Congress Initiative
"Now more than ever, we must overcome the barriers so many face to realizing their full potential. Our future depends on our collective ability to bring forth the best talent, the brightest ideas, and the most innovative solutions. Ask teaches leaders how to tap into the diversity of perspectives, experiences, and ideas that organizations need to thrive in the twenty-first century and beyond."
— John Rice, CEO and Founder of Management Leadership for Tomorrow
“The greatest resource for anyone passionate about making a big impact is the wisdom of the people around us – from those closest to the issues being addressed to our team members, partners, and investors. Ask is an inviting and easy guide for unlocking this wisdom and elevating the voices we most need to hear. This book is essential reading for anyone looking to make positive change in the world.”
– Wendy Kopp, Founder of Teach For America & CEO of Teach For All
“Jeff Wetzler’s breakthrough book, Ask, unlocks the key to building authentic relationships by asking deeply personal and intimate questions. Jeff’s unique framework, illustrated through moving stories, shows us how to move from judgment to authenticity in our relationships, and lights the way to our personal growth.”
— Bill George, Former Chair and CEO of Medtronic, Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, and bestselling author of True North
"From a young age, I learned the wonders of asking one good question after another. And when we pose good questions to others around us, we open whole worlds of discovery and authentic connection. Ask provides an astonishingly practical yet profound method for cultivating this kind of curiosity, listening, and reflection that is deeply needed in today’s organizations and communities.”
— Rhonda Broussard, CEO of Beloved Community and Author of One Good Question
“Asking and listening are at the heart of what it means to be a human being in relationship with others. In Ask, Jeff Wetzler presents a practical framework for uncovering the wisdom inside in the hearts and minds of those around you. The tools in this book offer an antidote to our age of disconnection, taking seriously the potential for creativity, collaboration, and courage within us and between us. Here's a book that points the way to a larger life.”
– Parker J. Palmer, author of Let Your Life Speak, Healing the Heart of Democracy, and On the Brink of Everything
“Jeff has worked alongside some of the foremost experts on group dynamics, including Chris Argyris, David Kantor, and Diana Smith. He has not only applied the insights he gained from these thought leaders in his own leadership across multiple organizations but also integrated them to develop his own distinctive point of view. This book does a masterful job of bridging theory and practice, offering invaluable guidance to any leader who seeks to build a culture of curiosity, creativity, and continuous learning.”
– Sameer B Srivastava, Professor of Business Administration & Public Policy, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
“Listening is the new "superpower". Never has it been more important – or more challenging – for leaders to access key information and perspectives from those around them. In this fascinating, engaging, and insightful book, Jeff Wetzler draws from science and practice to offer a much needed solution to this pervasive challenge. In these highly uncertain times, Ask provides an essential compass for leaders and organizations alike.”
— Benjamin Finzi, Managing Director and Global CEO Program Leader, Deloitte
“In a toxically divided world, getting and staying curious about each other — especially when we're so different — is an act of courage and defiance. Jeff Wetzler gives us a step-by-step method for building the skills we need to actually hear each other. Ask offers a well researched and widely applicable approach for turning our assumptions into questions that unlock the world around us. I'm keeping it close by as a reference, and so should you.”
– Mónica Guzmán, Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels and podcast host of A Braver Way with Mónica Guzmán
“Effective 21st century leadership is all about collaboration and connection. In Ask, Jeff Wetzler offers a concrete, actionable framework for making the critical shift from “me” to “we” that our time demands. This is a call to action for all of us – from corporate CEOs to social entrepreneurs to world leaders – to tap into our true collective potential.”
— Jeffrey C. Walker, former Vice Chair of JPMorgan Chase & Co.,& co-author of The Generosity Network
"This book offers you the wisdom of nearly 30 years of practice in the field of how to utilize the Ask Approach to tap into the hidden power of the relationships around you. We know that well constructed questions, asked in proper environments can benefit you and your team greatly. But Jeff Wetzler goes well beyond that. In Ask, Jeff provides systematic models and exercises for how to utilize that skill into action, thereby changing the way you lead, and dare I say, live."
— Topaz Adizes, Emmy Award winning director, founder of The Skin Deep and Author of 12 Questions for Love
“In an increasingly global and multipolar world, Ask is an essential book. It places curiosity, inquiry, and close listening at the heart of effective leadership. I would encourage every leader, aspiring leader, and change-maker to read this book as it might just bring us one step closer to addressing some of humanity’s most pressing problems.”
– Asheesh Advani, President & CEO, Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide
“Ask offers both a practical how-to guide and a compelling why-to narrative on the art of inquiry as a tool for team building and collaborative learning. Using stories, studies, data, and heaps of humility, Wetzler makes the case that curiosity is both the bridge to understanding our time's complex problems and the missing skill we need to connect to one another across the divisions and distrust that too often stand in the way of true learning and partnership.”
- Debby Irving, author of Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race
“From research to relationships, no tool is more powerful than a good question – and yet so few of us are ever taught how to design or pose one. Ask demystifies this process, offering a deeply-researched and widely-applicable approach to getting to the heart of what other people really know, believe, and feel. The tools and methods in book will transform the way we learn from and with one another.”
— Shereen El Mallah, Assistant Professor, University of Virginia
“There is a growing movement afoot in today’s world and it is being led by the questioners—the people who have figured out that the best way for us to live, learn, grow, and connect with one another is to lead with curiosity and thoughtful, beautiful questions. Jeff Wetzler’s invaluable book shows you how to embrace this way of being and interacting. A must-read for any aspiring “questionologist” (which should be all of us).”
— Warren Berger, best-selling author of A More Beautiful Question
“As a journalist, I know that few tools are more powerful than good questions. This authentic, deeply-researched, and wildly entertaining book doesn’t just make the case for why asking matters, but how to do it well. At a time when we can't seem to agree on the color of the sky, the skills of asking and listening deeply are more critical than ever. The world is in dire need of this book right now.”
— Jenny Anderson, author, contributing columnist at TIME, and former New York Times journalist
“In an incurious world where everyone wants to talk but no one wants to listen, Jeff Wetzler's book Ask is a breath of fresh air. He compellingly and eloquently underscores the urgent need given our global crisis of connection to focus on learning about the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of others by asking them questions rather than just sharing our own. He also provides concrete steps using our natural capacity for curiosity, including the interpersonal type which has been empirically proven to be essential for genuine human connection. His book offers us, in other words, a concrete solution to our crisis that is leading to our soaring rates of loneliness, suicide and mass violence. Read it now!“
— Niobe Way, Professor of Developmental Psychology at NYU, Past President of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Author of Deep Secrets: Boys' Friendships and the Crisis of Connection, and the author of the upcoming Rebels with a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves, and Our Culture.