Are you really listening to your team?

Beware of the boomer-ask.
I recently came across a term I’d experience before but never had a word for: The Boomer-Ask.

It’s when you ask someone a question, but you’re really just waiting for your turn to talk, boomeranging the conversation back toward yourself.

An example. Ahem…

👱🏻‍♂️ What did you do this weekend?
👩🏽‍🦱 I didn’t do much. Just hung ou…
👱🏻‍♂️ Oh my god. My wife and I spend the whole weekend at this beachside resort. We got massages, ate at 5-star restaurants, and even got to meet…guess. Guess! MORGAN FREEMAN. He even did his impression of God for us. From there we….

Per the Guardian, these kinds of boomer-asks can make people feel boring…and at the same time manipulated. It’s also, like, a little fuggin’ rude…Todd.

And, personally, I think the boomer-ask is a dynamic creative leaders should be especially wary of when talking with their teams:

👱🏻‍♂️ What do you think of this idea?
👩🏽‍🦱 I think this idea works well beca…
👱🏻‍♂️ Yeah, because what I was thinking was…

Because there’s a big difference between genuinely asking “what do you think?” and asking just to prepare your rebuttal.

When you lead creatives, your job isn’t always to have the best answer in the room. Sometimes it’s to ask the question, shut up, and let someone else find the answer.