Why people in leadership roles need to know how to answer questions

I was once told that executives don't like being asked questions and that they only want short answers/solutions. So every chance I get I make a point of asking executives questions. Its partly the consultant in me but its also mainly I do want to know the answer. And sometimes I just want the executive's perspective.

What I've seen recently is executives fumbling for answers, shocked that someone would dare question them, even when the question was innocuous as - what market segments do you think should be targeted? and can you share your team's research? I even had a CEO tell me that I should know the answer and should be telling him, and then he said he shouldn't be flippant. But he didn't answer the question and he was flippant.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when executives get condescending and sarcastic to people who report up into them - they know the person can't retaliate. Being flippant is disrespectful - there should be an attitude of "there is no wrong question".

There is however wrong answers and wrong attitudes. Executives need to recognize that people ask questions for various reasons - to get a definitive answer from someone in authority, to bring to light certain questions aren't being answered at various levels, to engage with the executive, to understand different perspectives, and potentially to lead into a bigger issue.

Good executives listen, show respect, and answer the question so that the askee is satisfied. And if they don't know the answer, they say they'll get back to them and do so.

The flippant CEO had several executives he could have turned the question over to. Instead, he lost respect and showed lack of leadership.