The audience for John G. Miller’s Directions session on Tuesday, June 3, may have felt drained from a morning of information-packed lectures. But Miller’s spirited afternoon talk, entitled “Personal Accountability,” woke up any potentially drowsy conference-goers. Miller is the author of the books QBQ! and Flipping the Switch, both of which address the importance of taking personal responsibility for one’s actions.
The letters “QBQ” stand for “the Question Behind the Question”—the one, he says, we should learn to ask in our professional and personal lives. Miller told the audience that asking the right questions can provide the answers they need to make good choices. He emphasized the need to face and address problems with one’s own actions and decisions, rather than blaming others when things go wrong. The session included a worksheet the audience filled out as Miller’s talk progressed, which contained examples of the right kinds of questions to ask (“What can I do to adapt to the changing world?”) and the wrong ones (“Why do we have to go through all this change?”).
Miller leavened his rapid-fire style with wisecracks and stories about his experiences as the son of a preacher/wrestling coach, as a husband and the father of seven children, and as the founder of his own organizational development business. “The foundation of leadership is humility,” he told the room, and many attendees nodded in agreement.
