Curiosity: A Key Leadership Attribute for Sustainable Success
Last week, we introduced our series on the four essential attributes found in leaders of sustainably successful organizations. Here, we focus on curiosity.
The four key attributes a leader of a sustainably successful organization must possess are #1 Curiosity, #2 Servant Mindset, #3 Authenticity, and #4 Love. The three Guiding Principles illustrate and exemplify how we achieve Peak Performance. (We discuss in detail the process for identifying Guiding Principles—crucial for both individuals and organizations—in “Chapter 2: Your Core Identity: The Enabler of Sustainable Success” in The Shift from Me to Team.) The Servant Mindset is our motivation, our Purpose behind why we are doing. With a Servant Mindset, we move through life, creating a better today and tomorrow for others.
Curiosity has many components, but here are a few to think about.
Faith in the Journey
People with curiosity have faith that they are on a journey to something much bigger and more impactful than the current place they find themselves. They know their journey through the jungle of life has taught them a great deal already, and they are open to learning more. Tomorrow will be better if I continue learning and growing.
Self-Confidence
None of us know all that we want to know or even should know. Getting comfortable with being our best selves rather than trying to be something we’re not meant to be is the start of gaining self-confidence. Self-confidence is a lifelong journey in itself.
Among those who are on a meaningful journey, the more self-confident individuals are open to being vulnerable to others’ perspectives to learn and grow to become better tomorrow. They connect with others who may be able to show them a better way and gladly take coaching and advice from all sources. The vision of who they are becoming is more important than who they are today.
Collaboration and Openness to the Perspectives of Others
People with a curious mindset are open to the perspectives of others. They have and respect their own perspective, but they are curious about why others see things differently. Marcus Aurelius said it so well: Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
There’s something on the other side we are not seeing. Be curious about others’ perspectives to learn what they see; we benefit from that insight.
This openness to others’ perspectives promotes collaboration with the family, team, and community. With open collaboration, people feel valued for their perspectives and believe that together, we can become all that we were meant to be.
Asking Questions
The curious ask great questions that engage the executive brain of others to co-create a shared, more beneficial future. Each of us has been in those meetings when all were looking to the future. We were part of a collective mindset that created something special, something better than anyone could have come up with individually. Moving out of the primal fearful brain to the executive brain releases those good hormones that activate the best in us to become even better together.
We have found a direct correlation between the leader’s curiosity and their leadership success. The greater the curiosity to learn and grow to be better tomorrow, the faster the journey to Peak Performance for the leader and thus, the entire organization. We consistently see curious leaders transform their organizations into something truly life-giving for all who are part of it.
#Leadership #Curiosity #ServantMindset #Authenticity #Love #ShiftFromMeToTeam #SustainableSuccess
October 26, 2023