Better questions create better teams. Annie Riley sits down with Maayan Roth, Head of Engineering at Crux Climate, to unpack the skill most managers overlook: asking questions that actually move things forward. Maayan shares how to use curiosity to uncover what’s really going on and guide conversations without controlling them. Plus: the traps new managers fall into, the difference between coaching and interrogating, and the simple question that turns hesitation into action.

TimeStamps:

00:00 – Meet Maayan Roth 

02:53 – Startup leadership: building everything from scratch

05:27 – Why asking better questions is a leadership superpower

06:16 – Open vs. closed questions 

08:28 – The “Socratic trap” and fake curiosity

10:09 – Letting go of having the answer

12:03 – Why leaders should speak last

14:17 – Go-to questions to unblock your team

18:58 – How to know if you’re asking the right questions

23:39 – Common traps: not listening, fake coaching, dead ends

31:23 – When coaching doesn’t work (and switching styles)

32:20 – What coaching actually means as a manager

39:31 – Growth should feel uncomfortable

43:46 – Hard lesson: stop doing everything so your team can step up

47:07 – There’s no “easy mode” in leadership + finding your people

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