?? Utilizing Curiosity to Safeguard Engagement in Meetings ??

Dear Navigators,

We have all sat in meetings that feel like they are going around in circles or worse, completely off the rails. As a leader, one of your responsibilities is to ensure the meeting is staying on task to be productive and sustained. How can you also ensure your meetings do not become a waste of time and energy for your team? The answer might be in curiosity.

Let's discuss how curiosity can be a great way to anchor meetings and communicate to participants that their voice matters.

1. First Align on the Goal ??

Understanding what everyone is trying to achieve together is a great start to a productive meeting. Many times, it is when the meeting goes off track, it is due to someone or a couple people steering the conversation toward an issue that has not been aligned with the meeting objective.

Strategy:

Instead of assuming people are aligned with point number 1, or rather than you being the authority and saying what the meeting is for, give your team the opportunity to define the meeting objective. At the beginning of the meeting, you would ask everyone to take a minute and define the problem or goal in about a sentence. This process would get to some clarity and alignment early on. If everyone in the room were aligned and understood what they were at the meeting for, it would be even more unlikely that the conversation would go in another direction.

Example: Imagine you are leading a meeting in finance to improve a process with budget approvals. Instead of saying… "We are here to fix the budget approval process." You would instead ask the team… "How would each of you describe the problem we are here to solve?"?

2. Sometimes, Let Your Team Lead ??

Meetings are often controlled by people in high ranks but real collaboration is when each one feels free to express themselves. One way of achieving this is by displaying a genuine interest—ask your team what they think before you give your opinion.

Strategy:

Encourage participation through asking others to contribute first. Ask open-ended questions which show that you value their perspectives. This not only demonstrates that you value their input, but it also helps you gather a range of insights before you weigh in.

Example: Instead of jumping straight into problem-solving, you might say: “Before I share my thoughts, I would really appreciate how everyone here thinks we should address this challenge.” By doing so, a top-down leadership conversation changes into collective problem solving and nurtures ownership among team members.

3. Curiosity Before Judgment ??

Your team requires your input in order to be guided effectively as a leader. However, you need to be cautious about giving judgmental feedback since it kills creativity and makes members of the group disinterested in their work. A more advisable method is discussing through curiosity instead of closing down ideas.

Strategy:

Instead of shutting down an idea that you are unsure about when someone offers it, ask them to tell you more about it. Instead of being overly negative or critical towards it, a simple “say more” serves as an impartial prompt for further explanation, which might produce fresh directions for thinking. Thus the dialogue remains positive and allows the ideas to take shape naturally.

Example: For instance, during one meeting, an employee may suggest automation of some parts involved in budget approval process. If you’re not sure yet, do not say ‘that wouldn’t work’. This response also encourages your team to think deeper while keeping the meeting positive.” Interesting can you share more how would you see this happening?”

4. Be Inquisitive, Even When the Going Gets Tough ??

In moments characterized by tense meetings or disagreements, curiosity can completely transform everything. By encouraging deeper inquiry instead of conflicts, it helps to defuse tension and promote understanding.

Strategy:

Stay calm and remain curious if discussions become heated or stuck. Some questions you could ask are: “What’s driving your concern about this?” or “Can you walk me through your thought process?” This way the team will feel understood and potential confrontations can be transformed into valuable conversations.

Example: Now there is a resource allocation disagreement between two departments. Instead of taking sides or stopping the discussion, probe further with questions like, "What makes this allocation important to you?" or "How do you see this benefiting the company long-term?" This move redirects from confrontation to cooperation.

Conclusion:

Curiosity is an unobvious but very effective Leadership technique which can change the meetings’ dynamics significantly. By allowing your team members to be open and express themselves, that is, giving freedom, you do not only solve expedited problems encountered but also come up with better solutions as well.

Therefore, the next time you sit through a meeting and completely understand why it might be toxic to attend – be curious instead. Get confirmation, challenge, and ideas – don’t forget that leadership is about purposely leading discourse.

Aashish Singhal

Founder, Navigating Leadership with The Financial Soul

Follow me on LinkedIn? Aashish Singhal

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