personal-development

Conscious Curiosity

“What I hate is ignorance, smallness of imagination, the eye that sees no farther than its own lashes.” Egyptian Book of the Dead

I recently returned from a trip to Egypt and, as many who visit likely observe, we owe much to the ancient Egyptians. What was most impressive to me was that they were a learning driven culture. Continually questioning the world around them, they invented tools and techniques to advance their society, to live in harmony with nature, and joyfully in the afterlife.

As leaders, we all recognize the importance of innovating to improve performance and business outcomes. Our challenge is in capturing the collective intellect and energy of our team’s to accelerate the speed and scale of innovation.

Promoting curiosity and accountability for outcomes over adherence to process are two factors needed to build that culture of innovation.

One of the challenges leaders face today are the headwinds that, in the interest of efficiency, seem to stifle curiosity. When under pressure to get things done, technology platforms that accelerate research and confirm biases, replace critical thinking and diverse perspectives. We can lose the power of imagination.

To counter those headwinds, we must all become more “consciously” curious. For leaders in particular that often means refraining from the desire to direct decisions and actions. Instead, when your team is faced with a problem or decision or a desire to try something new, promote curiosity by demonstrating curiosity.

Here are five questions to engage your team and promote greater curiosity:

Ask to be educated: Can you help me understand how this problem (or decision or new ideas) arose and why we need to address it at this time?
Ask to demonstrate clarity of objective: What are we hoping to achieve and how will we measure it?
Ask to understand assumptions: What needs to go right for the objective to be met and do we control those things?
Ask about risks: Can we validate or test the assumptions we’ve made?
Ask to validate action: What would happen if we chose to do nothing?

These questions are not designed for simple answers, but rather they are intended to foster a dialogue. The objective is to challenge the why of doing something, the how’s behind addressing the problem, the size of the risks and means of adjusting and addressing them, and the willingness of the team to be held accountable for action.

The other objective is to foster critical thinking within the team. Role modeling a degree of ignorance and a desire to learn and debate demonstrates that its ok to question and its important to learn from other people’s perspectives.

Curiosity is a powerful tool of growth and progress. It captures the opportunity for “the eye” to see “farther than its owns lashes”.

In today’s tech-enabled, AI-focused world, try leading with conscious curiosity.

Leading by Example

We live in a time of great political division in our country. That division naturally flows into the workplace as so much of our time is spent there. And, when sharing ideas or working through problems, our lens can often be colored by our politics.

How does one lead people in these challenging times? We all know the importance of diversity of thought in the workplace in order to drive innovation and collaborate to build on others ideas. But diversity also brings the challenge of competing views that, unfortunately for many, has become personal.

There is no easy answer here. There is no course to take or 5-step plan to execute. These are the challenges that separate managers from leaders. These are the challenges that require a mindset shift from directing people to complete tasks, to self-reflection and ongoing personal development to be able to lead by example.

When RFK chose to share with a largely black audience at a campaign stop in Indianapolis that MLK, Jr. had been assassinated, he was advised against it. The concern for rioting and violence and fear for RFK’s own safety were likely very real. But RFK chose to speak. Still haunted by the death of his brother, he had spent time after JFK’s death to reflect and adjust the lens through which he saw the world and his place in it.

Gone was the arrogant, brash former Attorney General known for being the bad cop to his brother’s good cop. RFK had embraced empathy and compassion as he travelled across the country and spoke to people in poverty-stricken areas and those less fortunate who had no chance of realizing the American Dream. He internalized their feelings and their sense of hopelessness and committed himself to make change.

As important as that empathy for others was RFK’s ability to translate that understanding into a vision and passion and agenda for ALL Americans to embrace. He was able to speak from his heart and lead by example. He now saw both sides and was able to work to bridge the divides. It took him years to develop that deeper understanding.

Leadership is a continual work in progress. There is no end to the leadership project. It requires the same level of focus and energy as defining a strategy or executing the operational plan. But it can be harder as it is a more personal effort.

Leadership is an aspirational journey. In today’s divisive times, take time for self-reflection. Look at things through a different lens. Listen to other views. Find ways to bridge the divides.

After MLK’s death there were riots across almost all the major cities in the US…except Indianapolis.

Choices

Management guru Peter Drucker defined the difference between management and leadership. He noted: “Management is doing things right. Leading is doing the right things.”

Leadership is about choices.

It’s about what to do versus what not to do. Defining goals and priorities. Assembling and empowering teams. Intervening and adjusting as needed.

The first choice a leader should make is choosing to lead. The most effective leaders are able to subordinate personal goals to the broader organization’s and team’s goals. They recognize their individual success is a function of the team’s success.

Leaders who put themselves before the mission and team are likely to build any near term success on weak and shifting sands, imperiling longer term goals. To be an effective leader is to make that choice of prioritizing mission and team success over personal gain.

That choice comes at a price. The most effective leaders recognize that success begins with the team. Failures or setbacks begin with the person who leads the team. Share the success. Own the failure. It’s the price leaders pay.

So, before taking on the challenges of a leadership role, it’s worth doing a little self-reflection and articulation of your why and how.

Three questions can help frame your why:

1- What is my personal commitment to this organization and its mission?

2- Are my values and principles aligned with those of this organization?

3- Do I bring a mindset and capabilities to deal with the challenges of leading?

And three questions to ask about how you will lead:

1- Do I have clarity of the principles by which I will lead?

2- Am I committed to my continued development as a leader and willing to reflect and learn?

3- Do I understand and value the power that diversity of thought and ideas can bring to improve team performance?

The conflicts and obstacles in leading any team towards a goal are inevitable. Every leadership effort is subject to outside forces. Some controllable. Some not. In many cases the conflicts and obstacles are driven by changes in policy or priorities or team dynamics or individual behaviors.

Without commitment to the goal, clarity of principles, and a willingness to consider all views, these conflicts and obstacles become more challenging to confront and overcome.

Why?

Because the power that comes with an engaged and aligned team is lost. When a team doesn’t see a leader’s commitment to the goal, or behaviors consistent with defined values and principles, or an interest in other views and voices, the outcome is inertia not progress.

Ray Kroc, who turned a small California restaurant called McDonald’s into a global franchise, noted that, “The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.”

Leadership is a choice.

Take the time to make it the right one.