Benefits of Unleashing Your Curiosity
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Are you ready to unlock the secret to success as a leader?
In today’s episode of “Women Taking the Lead” we’ll explore the power of curiosity and how cultivating this essential characteristic can enhance your leadership journey.
I am very comfortable proclaiming that curiosity was the characteristic propelled my success as a leader and in every area of my life. It is the reason I connect with others more easily, learn faster, and solve problems more quickly.
Stay tuned to discover even more reasons why curiosity matters, how it benefits you as a leader, and get some practical strategies for developing and maintaining a curious mindset.
What is curiosity and why is it important?
To kick things off, let’s define curiosity. Curiosity is the desire to seek new information, explore novel ideas, and ask insightful questions.
We are born curious and it’s a natural state throughout childhood. It’s innate curiosity that propels us to learn, grow, and adapt.
However, as humans, the more we “know” the less we lean into curiosity. Our tendency becomes to compare new information to what we’ve already come to understand. This helps us to move fast in a world that is overly stimulating.
Nevertheless, if we don’t intentionally bring a healthy dose of curiosity to our day, we will be at risk to misinterpret, misunderstand, and block opportunities for creativity and innovation.
Curiosity and Leadership
As a leader, curiosity is a powerful tool that drives your success and the success of your team.
As published in the Harvard Business Review, new studies have discovered three important things about curiosity in the workplace.
First, curiosity is much more crucial for a company’s success than we used to think. When we encourage curiosity at all levels of the organization, it helps leaders and employees adapt to uncertain market conditions and outside pressures.
Secondly, when we become curious, we think more deeply and logically about decisions and come up with more creative solutions.
Thirdly, finding from those studies, curiosity helps leaders gain more respect from their coworkers and motivates their teams to build trusting and collaborative relationships with colleagues.
In brief, curious leaders tend to be more innovative, adaptable, and better at solving complex problems. Curiosity sparks creativity, promotes collaboration, and encourages a culture of continuous improvement.
Before we get into some tips that can help you to develop your curiosity, I want to share an upcoming webinar that will introduce you to a operating system that will more deeply cultivate a curious and positive mindset. It’s the How to Get Mentally Fit webinar.
How to Get Mentally Fit Webinar
Mental fitness is your capacity to respond to life’s challenges with positive rather than negative mindset and it impacts:
- Your peace of mind and wellness
- Your ability to be at peak performance
- The health of your relationships
Positive Intelligence is an operating system that increases your mental fitness and impacts all areas of your life: the professional and personal.
I have an upcoming webinar in in which you’ll:
- Hear about the science and research behind Positive Intelligence and the specific areas it impacts
- Learn the 3 core muscles at the root of mental fitness.
- Discover the 10 internal Saboteurs that might hijack your best efforts.
- Identify 5 Sage Powers within you that can overcome any challenge you are faced with.
- Experience a practice that will enable you to intercept a Saboteur hijacking and increase your self-command.
If being calmer or more positive interests you, I invite you to join me to explore Positive Intelligence and the difference it could make for you.
To register for this webinar, go to: https://womentakingthelead.com/webinar and share it with a friend!
Developing The Ability to Stay Curious
Now that we understand the significance of curiosity, let’s explore how to develop it or develop more of it. Here are a few strategies:
Embrace a growth mindset.
Let me introduce Carol Dweck. Carol Dweck is a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and the author of the book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. According to Carol Dweck, cultivating a growth mindset, involves believing that intelligence and abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work.
This means that whatever limitations you currently have, they are temporary. By adopting this mindset, you open yourself up to new possibilities and actively seek opportunities to learn and grow.
The word you want to lean into her is yet.
“I don’t know how to do that yet, but I will.”
“I’m not good at that yet, but I’m working on it.”
Slow down.
You can’t be rushed and curious at the same time. Or, you might be mildly curious but you’ll tell yourself there’s no time to explore what you’re curious about. Sure, there are times when there are emergencies and you need to move fast. But the reality is, most of the time we feel busy because of the undue pressure we are putting on ourselves or the situation. Take a breath, slow down, and let your curiosity bubble up.
Engage in active listening.
Active listening involves removing distractions, fully focusing on the speaker, and seeking to understand their perspective. It’s not about agreeing with their perspective but rather, understanding where they are coming from.
By practicing active listening, you gain valuable insights and demonstrate genuine interest in others’ ideas and experiences.
Ask open-ended questions.
Open-ended questions are inquiries that cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”, or short answer. They require elaboration and possibly some reflection.
Asking open-ended questions encourages exploration and invites different perspectives. At work, it fosters a culture of collaboration and empowers your team to think critically and problem-solve.
Hint, hint: if you are looking to develop in any of these areas attend the How to Get Mentally Fit webinar. Mental fitness is the inroad to these qualities and behaviors.
To sum it up, curiosity is a mindset that fuels innovation, promotes collaboration, and drives continuous learning. And, it can be cultivated over time. The more you practice, the more natural it becomes, and the more benefits you’ll reap as a leader.
Want to share your thoughts? Head over to the post that corresponds with this episode on LinkedIn and let’s have a conversation. I’m curious about your take on curiosity.
As always, I hope this was of value to you, and here’s to your success!
Resources
Register for the How to Get Mentally Fit webinar: Learn the 3 core muscles to build to gain mental fitness.
Apply to be on an “On-Air Coaching” episode. Are you a female leader who has been promoted in the last year? Apply to be on the podcast.
Leadership Operating System Inventory. Wondering what kind of Leadership traits you have? Take this FREE, FAST self-assessment and find out more about yourself as a Leader.
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing. The book containing a simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Leadership Coaching. Find out more about my coaching process, the cost of coaching, or how to ask your employer to pay for you to work with a coach.
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