Welcome to this episode of Jack Chat and another tiny lesson in leadership, straight up.
In this episode, I’d like to reflect on another essential leadership skill. This one is guaranteed to change the way you lead.
It’s the skill of curiosity.
We live in a world of high workloads and chronic time pressure – when problems arise, it can be very tempting to go with your first thought or attempt to make new information fit into what you already believe is the best course of action.
But in reality, one of the hardest things to do is to uncover the real problem. Leaders who are really good at curiosity – being deliberately curious – they are great at helping new ideas emerge and deepen the commitment of others to the course of action.
(Jack rubbing chin and looking away into space…)
I think today is a great day to go out into the world and deliberately practice curiosity. Yah, that’ll be good…
(Jack walks outside into bee’s nest. Back to Jack with white spots and bandages on her face…)
Here are a couple self-reflection questions for you to consider to help you get deliberately curious in your role as a leader:
- How quickly do I typically jump in and offer advice when someone is telling me about a problem?
- How might staying curious a little bit longer help me in an upcoming conversation?
Give these questions some thought, be more curious… and join me again for another chat!