5 Questions That Make People Feel Seen at Work | Episode 8

Описание: There's a difference between being watched and being seen.
Most workplaces have mastered watching—monitoring performance, tracking metrics, observing output. But seeing? That's the part that gets missed. And it's the part that actually matters.

In this episode of How Work Actually Works, Joe Marques and KayLee Hansen explore five practical questions that help leaders move from surveillance to connection. These are the kinds of questions that shift one-on-ones from status updates to real conversations—and create the conditions where trust and engagement can actually grow.

KayLee shares her “magic questions” approach, including the story of the Hot Wheels Lamborghinis and why knowing someone’s exact coffee order matters more than most leaders realize. Joe adds perspective on why recognition often misses the mark, how motivation goes deeper than money, and why the first, polished answer people give is rarely the real one—until you slow down and dig a little deeper.

They also talk about how to introduce this approach without it feeling performative or forced—especially if this isn’t how you’ve led before.

Whether you’re a new manager or a seasoned leader looking to reset how you connect with your team, this episode gives you questions you can use immediately.

Key Takeaways

Why being watched feels very different from being understood
Two questions that reveal how people actually want to be recognized
How to move past surface-level answers to uncover real motivation
What most leaders get wrong about feedback—and how to fix it
One culture question that works like a mini pulse survey

Better leadership doesn’t start with better answers.

It starts with better questions.