How Curiosity Can Supercharge Your Leadership
One of the greatest struggles most organisations face today is staying relevant. That is, being able to cater and meet the demands this volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous and ever changing business world.
To have this ability, organisations need leaders who have a set of skills and competencies that will enable them to lead and direct high-performing teams, despite the challenges of the VUCA environment.
One of the most valuable competencies every high-performing leader should have is CURIOSITY. Yes, you read it right, for your organisation to stay afloat in the waters of this volatile and ever changing marketplace you need to have leaders who practice curiosity. Let’s unpack why this is true.
Curious leaders display 4 crucial attributes in the workplace.
1. Curious leaders are innovative leaders.
Leaders who have the competency of curiosity, continually exposing themselves to the greatest quality of new information.
From this diamond mine of information, they come up with gems of ideas that enable them to stay ahead of the game. Moreover, curious leaders, constantly seek ways to improve things and challenge the way things are. They know what they are currently doing could soon be obsolete, so they have a back up strategy ready to go, just in case.
One of the most innovative leaders in modern times, Walt Disney said “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
2. Curious leaders are more resilient to the VUCA environment.
Since curious leaders are equipped with a boatload of information, they already have visualised the roadblocks they and their organisation might be facing. They have already prepared themselves and their team to face the challenges ahead of them.
This preparedness allows them to be more agile and anticipate change more readily. Setbacks are not such a shock as they have contingency plans ready to employ.
3. Curious leaders are also great decision makers.
Research shows that most of our everyday decisions are carried out under sub-optimal conditions. Real-world problems tend to complex and ambiguous - lacking a clear-cut solution: e.g. Should I sign this deal? Is this the right person for the job? Am I making the right decision here?
Regardless of the question being asked, a curious leader will be more likely to consider a wider range of answers. They are more open to new solutions, even if it contradicts their ideas, and pay attention to data and facts, before deciding.
4. Curious leaders produce curious followers.
Are you familiar with the saying: “A tree is known by its fruit”? Well this saying is so true when it comes to curiosity. This is because curiosity is highly contagious. Curious leaders are open to new ideas. Curiosity begets curiosity.
They give their team members autonomy over their task and create opportunities for them to enhance their skills. By doing this, they create an environment of creativity and openness in the workplace which in turn hones their team members’ curiosity and makes them become more engaged and productive as well.
Indeed, having a high level of curiosity amongst your leaders enables them to enhance their leadership game, overcome roadblocks, and create a culture that does the same for others making any organisation they lead stay relevant and become the stand out leaders of their industry.
In the work I do to develop 21st Century Neuroleaders who perform and lead more effectively, CURIOSITY is just one of the 4 pillars that sit within the competency framework of Innovation alongside Imagination, Drive and Attitude.
I’m curious, are you ready to grow in this area?
Contact me today to find out how to develop these competencies in you and your team.
