Staying Curious a little bit longer

As leaders, our ability to foster meaningful connections, drive innovation, and inspire our teams hinges on our capacity for curiosity. Remember, when talking, we are only learning what we already know.

In today's volatile world, leaders hugely benefit from asking rather than telling colleagues; by being more curious for longer and taking a coaching approach, leaders engender confidence, build resilience and encourage collaboration.

According to author Michael Bungay-Stanier, advice-giving is a widespread habit that many people find difficult to break—a habit he personifies as your "advice monster."

He says giving in to our advice monsters can be problematic for two reasons:

1) It can lead to inaccurate solutions and

2) It can generate negative emotions that hinder workplace productivity.

In his light yet provocative talk, Michael shares the three personas of our advice monster and tips for taming it. Michael Bungay Stanier: How to tame your Advice Monster | Michael Bungay Stanier | TEDxUniversityofNevada | TED Talk

A study by Microsoft suggests that the average attention span for adults is only around eight seconds, not much better than a goldfish, it seems!

Leaning into our curiosity can not only help expand our attention it can also offer numerous benefits for the quality of our interactions:

Building Trust and Rapport - Curiosity demonstrates genuine interest in our team members.

Drives Learning and Growth - Curiosity fuels a culture of continuous learning and growth within our organisations.

Curiosity promotes collaboration and innovation by inviting diverse perspectives and insights.

It strengthens communication skills by fostering active listening, empathy, and effective questioning.

Curiosity boosts emotional intelligence by cultivating self-awareness and social awareness.

Staying curious in conversation is essential for leaders who seek to inspire, empower, and drive positive change within their organisations.

Interestingly, from a mindset lens, we understand that our curiosity is an outcome dependent to some extent on our mental toughness. The advantage of the 8-factor framework, developed by AQR International, is that we can better understand how curiosity works in ourselves and others.

For example, when looking at the Challenge construct, a significant risk orientation is often associated with a predisposition to see opportunity where others don't. It also reflects a mindset where we are eager to explore new ideas, places, things, experiences, etc. It's the approach that promises to satisfy our perceptual curiosity.

While Learning Orientation is central to curiosity. Reflecting on what we find, learning as we go along and using that to build knowledge, skills, etc., can help the process of curiosity.

The application of the MTQPlus psychometric measure, which assesses our level of mental toughness across eight factors, can help us better identify what, within our mindset, influences our curiosity about our world. If you want to learn how your mental toughness is helping or hindering your curiosity, get in touch.

Try utilising a few questions in your future conversations to help you stay a little bit curious for a little bit longer and keep your 'advice monster' at bay.

Can you share more about your thought process behind this decision?

What are some alternative perspectives we haven't considered yet?

What have we learned from past experiences that could inform our current situation?

What support do you need from me or the team right now?

What opportunities do you see for growth and innovation in our organisation?

What assumptions are we making that might be limiting our thinking?

What questions are we not asking that we should be?

#Curiosity #Leadership #Innovation #Communication #EmotionalIntelligence