“… what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.”
Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
After publishing my recent post, “Five Quotes About Listening,” I began to think more about the relationship between listening and curiosity. I started to think that curiosity might possibly be the most important leadership trait. It creates relationships and is a key to both social and emotional intelligence. It feeds innovation and informs shared vision (you have to be curious about what an alternative to the status quo might look like in order to make it happen). Without curiosity, we can get locked into inaction by a sense that the familiar is an absolute, immovable reality.
Without curiosity, mysteries and crimes would never be solved. Novels could not be written. Curiosity inspires learning, and discovery. Without it, there would be far fewer scientific discoveries. Scientists will tell you that the laboratory isn’t just a series of “eureka” events. More often than not scientists will look at some result in their lab and say, “hmm, that’s weird.” Curiosity is sparked. Discoveries are made.
Years ago, I was working on a writing project. I had been researching the life of a woman who had accomplished some amazing things as a teenager in the early 1930s. She had passed away, but one of the people I interviewed told me that the subject of my research had a younger sister who was still alive, and that she would be happy to introduce us. This was a tremendous opportunity.
I prepared a list of eight to ten questions to ask the younger sister. On the day of the interview, I got to the third question, and her answer introduced ideas I had not considered. My curiosity told me to go down the path the sister was taking me, rather than the path that would fill the gaps of the story I had thought would be important to tell. As a result of remaining curious about the direction the sister led me, my understanding of the story I wanted to tell became deeper, more nuanced, and compassionate.
Curiosity makes you dig deeper. It can bring additional clarity to positions you already hold. But it can also give you the courage to change your mind.
Curiosity is a prerequisite for creative leadership, and continuous learning. Being a leader doesn’t mean that you know everything. It means that you are always on the lookout for context, lucidity, and insight. Curiosity allows you to see the world through many different lenses. Be curious.
Leading Differently 