If you are a regular listener to my Leadership and Learning Podcast, it’s likely you heard many guests emphasize the importance of leaders having curiosity.
A recent example of exploring curiosity comes from episode #62, “5 Secrets for Creating Breakthrough Products, Services, and Solutions” with guest Chip Bell. Chip talks about asking “dreamer questions” to spark curiosity by getting into the customer’s imagination. This episode contains plenty of ideas and suggestions to do that, as the title suggests.
Successful leaders maintain that curiosity is necessary to achieve success. Without it, you can remain complacent or content. In this competitive world, these are not desired leadership characteristics.
Albert Einstein once said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
If he’s right, what could a few of those reasons be in your world? Here are my top seven:
- improve customer service experiences
- create rock-solid succession planning
- maximize meeting effectiveness
- ensure correct competitive positioning
- achieve greater efficiency
- ensure success in the markets you serve
- develop new products or enhancements
Doing all these well directly relates to achieving top-line and bottom-line growth.
Leadership Tip
Elevate your level of curiosity to keep learning and changing.
To do that, ask more questions about everything you touch in your organization. Focus on questions that start with “why?” and “why not?”
Without asking great questions, exploring the unknown, or challenging the establishment, leaders aren’t learning. Without learning, they’re riding a slow train to stagnation that can result in extinction.
By demonstrating curiosity, you are reinforcing the importance of rejecting complacency and challenging the familiar. You are also confirming that what you do is the right thing to do—for now.
