From time to time, this question pops up, “What traits do leaders need in the workplace?” The usual answers include commitment, strategic thinking, tenacity and agility, amongst others.
Over the last two years, curiosity has figured more and more prominently.
PwC recently interviewed Michael Dell and asked what the one attribute he thinks CEOs might need in the future in order to succeed and he answered, “The one attribute CEOs need in the future to succeed, that I would place my bet on, is curiosity.”
He went on to explain that from curiosity comes learning and new ideas which are crucial to success.
I was reading another blog from Harvard Business Review and came across this line, “Welcome to the era of the curious leader, where success may be less about having all the answers and more about wondering and questioning.”
This made me think about company culture and what we are each doing to foster a spirit of curiosity at our workplace. Why is this important? Because it has a direct impact on people development, talent management and employee engagement.
The traditional perspective about curiosity is that it might be a trait that some lucky few are born with but according to Ian Leslie, author of the book Curious, curiosity is actually “more of a state than a trait.” This means that curiosity can be nurtured and that anyone can learn to be curious.
I’d take this a step further to suggest that we are all already curious about something and perhaps we need to learn what else we can and should be curious about.
Some of us are curious about numbers and data and we make it our goal to ensure that research and information is accurately presented.
Some of us are curious about policies and processes and we continue to seek ways to ensure operational efficiencies.
Some of us are curious about people and relationships. They will help us answer the question about whether our colleagues are happy.
Some of us are curious about the future and will gladly chart the way forward by painting a vision.
We might differ in the way we manifest our curiosity as well – some of us choosing to remain introspective, peaceful and focused while others express ourselves more willingly, drive things forward and embrace change.
It’s almost certain that we will find different ways of being curious in the workplace. The question is whether we are open to all these ways and if our culture and environment intentionally nurtures all forms of curiosity, or do we intentionally or otherwise allow ‘curiosity to kill the cat’?
Fostering a spirit of curiosity is important because each form of curiosity would spark a different learning and different ideas, which indirectly provides different paths to success. This also leads to higher employee engagement and a gradual realisation of potential across various groups of people and not just a traditional few “leader-types”.
Wondering how to foster curiosity? Perhaps this blog might give you some ideas. Are you curious?
We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things,
because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.
Walt Disney
By Colin Yeow, Master Associate and Deputy CEO of Emergenetics International – Asia Pacific.
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