The Good Steward Diaries
Week 7 · Strategy Pillar · Companion Worksheet
Questions for Your
Trusted Advisors
Nehemiah 2:11–13
When you are ready to bring people in, bring them in carefully. Your trusted advisors are not an audience for the announcement. They are a sounding board for the assessment. That means the questions you ask them should not be about the vision — they should be about the gap and your capacity to stand in it.
Ask your trusted advisors these questions. Then be still and receive the answers — even the ones that are hard to hear.
The Four Assessment Questions
Question 01
Where do you see the greatest unmet need in [this space, community, or market]?
Let them name the gap independently. If they see what God showed you — without prompting — that is confirmation. If they name something different, that is information you need.
Their Response
Question 02
Based on what you know of me — my gifts, my blind spots, my current season — what do you see that I might not?
This requires trust and humility. You are not asking for flattery. You are asking for the honest assessment a good advisor owes you.
Their Response
Question 03
What evidence do you see — in the market, in the community, in the data — that this need is real and not currently being met?
Root the conversation in observable reality. This question protects you from building something the market does not actually need.
Their Response
Question 04
What would concern you about someone stepping into this gap without a specific preparation, resource, or partnership?
This is the question that reveals what you are missing. A trusted advisor who loves you will answer this honestly. Let them.
Their Response
A Note on the Distinction
Notice what is not on this list: "What do you think about my idea?" That is a vision question. These are assessment questions. The distinction matters — because one invites reaction and the other invites truth.