I think generally that this is not the problem women have. By the tone of most of the comments on this thread it's pretty clear that most women probably already do a lot of this.
But, yes, leading questions (on the part of husbands) would show a personal interest and likely would end up deepening relationships.
Maybe some men are afraid to do this because they think their wives would talk even more! Or maybe they're just not aware as you perhaps were not until your wife pointed it out. But I have a theory that the root cause of a lot of female chatter is that women don't feel close to their husbands emotionally, spiritually, intellectually and they're desperate to fill the gap. So more "leading questions" as you put it from their mate might be one of the keys to closing that gap and lessening the volume of empty words. All IMHO.
Your comments on this thread seem to say over and over, men should be more like women, and not a glimmer of the other perspective.
Asking shows I care. Sure I do care - but asking shows it verbally.
I am more into non-verbal communication, but that doesn't suffice.
Do you think a woman asking leading questions might solicit more conversation from an otherwise silent husband?