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Leadership and Curiosity

By Jeni Nichols
Queen of Connections

New Year's Resolution: Stubbornly curious

In 2006 I firmly resolve to be more curious. In the twelve months ahead I will keep this one resolution in mind as I live, learn and lead. You may not share my commitment to curiosity, or even my sentiments about it, but I hope you'll take a new look at it when you read the articles in this Leader's Almanac.

Pat Schally advocates being curious and not playing it safe. She explores curiosity in history, culture, religion, careers, and to her life. Throughout the many years I've known Pat she's been the embodiment of curiosity, throwing herself into life experiences because she is curious. She does her homework, then she "throws off the bowlines and sails away from the safe harbor." (to borrow from Mark Twain), I'm sure we'll be hearing about this most recent journey of curiosity to Cambodia in future articles.

Beth High's article, "What Role Does Curiosity Play in Leadership" brings the Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders into focus, looking through the lens of curiosity. I love Beth's seeds for conversation, and this month's "curiosity seeds" are going to be useful in my continual quest to embrace the Five Practices and to be "curiouser". . ..hopefully you'll find them equally helpful.

Peter Alduino offers wise advice, there's more power in a right question then there could possibly be in a ready answer. What do you think about humility and leadership?

How many times have you heard (or said yourself) if only they (the powers that be) would (fill in the blank)? Joe and Alejandra did more than ask, they took action! In this article Alejandra tells an inspiring story of how a small band of curious, focused employees won a company-wide contest They started by asking themselves:

• "What would it be like here if we improved leadership?"
• "What is the best way to grow the company?"
• "How can we innovate and make changes here?"

Curious yes, committed Big Yes!

So far this year (already a month into it) I have pondered curiosity because I have resolved to be more curious. I've read about it, discussed it, analyzed it, googled it, and resolved it. Now I need to live it. Albert Einstein said, "God gave me the stubbornness of a mule and a fairly keen scent." I'll stubbornly ask the questions and hope I have a keen scent.

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by Pat Schally, CPCC
Certified Business and Leadership Coach

I love this topic! The old saying, “Curiosity Killed the Cat” is one that this “cat” does not subscribe to! It implies that curiosity should be avoided if we want to play it safe in life. As a coach, I know that the subject of curiosity is a critical element. Coaches need, indeed must be intensely curious about his/her client. What makes her tick? Why does he say one thing and do another? How is his character revealed? What are her values that show up in her speech and actions? All this is good fodder for coaching. Curiosity is a powerful tool in coaching and a necessity in leadership.

What is the role that curiosity has played in history? What if Christopher Columbus had not been curious about finding a shorter route to India? What if Madame Curie hadn’t been curious about science or Louis Pasteur about medicine; if Mozart weren’t curious about musical compositions; DaVinci about the human form and the exciting prospect of man in flight? Where would we be today? Sailing to the end of the earth expecting to fall off or dealing with devastating diseases yet to be treated? A world bereft of music and art?

And, what about curiosity as it applies to nations, religions and other cultures? I firmly believe that peace and harmony among people would be greatly enhanced and hatred eliminated if we were simply curious about others. Instead of being xenophobes, fearful of “foreign” people, what would it be like to replace it with a childlike curiosity about them? What are the similarities and differences between Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Hindi’s, Atheists, Agnostics, etc? What is it about other cultures and geographies that make them delightfully intriguing and leaves us awestruck by their unique beauty?

On a personal note, I’ve put this idea to the test. I was offered an opportunity to be a travel consultant for a social venture tour company in Cambodia. I figured that I had two choices: (1) To be fearful about the unknown and turn it down as a potentially scary endeavor into an unknown Southeast Asian culture, OR (2) Be wildly curious about and open to the whole experience. I’ve decided on “door #2,” and will be embarking on this great adventure for several weeks in January, 2006.

Since Jeni Nichol’s "Leadership Almanac" addresses issues related to leaders, how does curiosity apply to leaders? Curiosity is a constant search for answers. So, an effective leader must be constantly asking the right questions. Curiosity is also a passion for discovery that appears to be hardwired in all of us—a primal instinct. As leaders, how curious are we about our stakeholders, our products, our suppliers, our products’ value, our competition, our position in the marketplace, our own personal growth potential? When a leader is curious he or she often asks the question: “How far can we go to be even better?”

Another look at curiosity: Inspired leaders know there is a dark side to curiosity and that is judging. It takes a strong leader to know the difference between the two. By being judgmental or responding to new situations with a negative knee-jerk-like reaction, we are basically “killing the cat” of curiosity. A cat may have nine lives, but we’ve only got one to live as a leader who is bold, fearless, inquisitive, and passionately curious about life!

One last thought from that model of curiosity—Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Discover.” (Oh yes, and Be Curious!)

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by Beth High
High Road Consulting

This issue's seed for conversation is "Curiosity".

What role does curiosity play in leadership? When you think of strong leaders, do you think of them as curious? I don't know about you, but my mind goes straight to a cute little monkey named George who was always being corralled to safety by the guy in the yellow hat. The word is not always associated with Leadership. In a workshop I conduct regularly with varied groups, I ask people to identify the qualities of leadership they attribute to various quotes of famous leaders ranging from Patton to Ghandi. As you might suspect, the answers are wide ranging but there are a few that almost always appear: Visionary, Innovative, Inspiring, Empowering, Humble and Compassionate are at the top of the list. So if these are qualities people associate with Leadership, where does curiosity fit in? Let's explore the list.

Visionary: A visionary leader is one who can create an image of the future and convey it effectively to those he or she intends to lead so that it is a shared vision. It is the essence of the second practice of The Leadership Challenge, by Kouzes and Posner. To come up with that vision requires a deep sense of curiosity about how things could be. A leader's curiosity drives them to question the way things are and opens their minds to picturing how things might be different.

Innovative: Innovation stems from curiosity. The innovative leader challenges the status quo with their curiosity and belief that things might always be improved. They are willing to branch off and move in a new direction. They are comfortable with the state of not knowing all the answers and tend to explore the unknown with curious questions such as: "What if we tried...." "If we thought about it completely differently..." "Who's got thoughts on this?"

Inspiring: A leader who inspires us, has learned what they really care about and conveys it in a way that helps reveal for us what we care about. It is the phenomenon that Jim describes in his newsletter article from last month: "...the act of teaching is the act of learning. The deepest kind of learning" . That learning grows from curiosity about your values, examining them, owning them, and living them.

Empowering: A Leader who empowers is open to seeing how someone else will deal with a situation. They have a built in curiosity that let's them know there is more than one way to do things and that being curious about people's capacity, leads to building capacity.

Humble: A leader's humility stems from their deep belief that they don't have all the answers, they just have a vision and want to share and achieve it with you. They are curious about how it can best be achieved. They put out a potential path, then listen for ideas that are better. The goal is to reach or attain the vision, not to be the one who decided all alone how to get there.

Compassionate: Compassion is defined as: "the sympathetic concern for the suffering of another together with the inclination to give aid or support" . To demonstrate compassion, a leader therefore needs to have sympathy and empathy for another's situation. That empathy requires curiosity about the feelings, capacities, and circumstances of another person which might be very different than the leaders. Compassion is also about suspending judgment. It stems from curiosity of the heart and being able to understand that others may feel things differently than you do.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August, there were those who were not compassionate to the plight of people who "chose" to make their home in an area that was below sea level. The sentiment seemed to be they should have known this would happen one day? A compassionate person would stay curious and look at the complexity of how the city came to be. They might recognize the richness of the culture is there because of the geography and how people settled into it and understand that families and communities develop organically with the environment they occupy. The curious mind would understand there is not an easy answer and feel compassion for the Gulf Coast residents who lost so much.

Curiosity will play a huge role for those who lead the massive undertaking of rebuilding these culturally rich communities. How can they reestablish the character of these places yet better protect those that make it up. It will take many leaders, and it will require inspiration, innovation, humility, vision, empowerment, compassion, and yes, lots of curiosity.

What can you do to build curiosity into your leadership style? Are you curious about those you lead, how they feel, how they think, what they dream? How can you encourage curiosity in those who choose to follow you. The reward won't be a man in a yellow hat keeping you from harms way, but a life long adventure in learning.

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by Peter Alduino
President, Bridge Group

Curiosity is one of the foundational qualities of a leader's character. Curiosity plays a vital duel role for each one of us in a leader position. It is the portal that allows us access to learn about ourselves. It is the fuel that feeds the flames of our education, inspiration, imagination, creativity and judgment to make contributions to the world in which we live, work, love, and play.

Curiosity demands that we be much more concerned with discernment and discovery than with being right. And so, fundamental to the exercise of curiosity is the capacity for humility. The wise leader knows that there is more power in a right question than there could possibly be in a ready answer. The wise leader knows that mastery in any field of endeavor requires a commitment to be a constant student and learner.

And it all begins with the leader's capacity to be exercise humility in knowing herself/himself.

Leadership is first an exploration of oneself. It demands introspection; it demands reflection; it demands the humility to be brutal honesty with oneself in response to the questions: "Who am I that anyone should want to follow?" "What do I fundamentally believe about my work and the work of my organization?" "What are my personal and professional guiding principles?" "What legacy do I want to create as a leader?"

Throughout your personal life and professional experience, you have, in all probability, run up against these question. It is your job as leaders to continue to pose these and other powerful questions to help yourself discover, or uncover, or simply remind yourself of the truth.

As with any exploration, there will be discovery along the way - discovery of what is true and what is not. So, you need to be prepared to, you need to want to, discover the truths about both you as a human being, and you as a leader. There is no judgment attached to the answers to the questions. What is important is that your responses help you to revisit the basis of your convictions, the depth of your credibility, and the strength of your willingness to be a leader. The irony about leadership is this - "If you don't go in, you can't find out." Armed with your own truths, you can decide how you want to change, fine-tune, learn, adjust, grow and carry on as you assume the role of a leader at work. If and when this foundation is in place, then you will have the strength of character to build and fortify the kinds of relationships with your employees and colleagues that will engage their enthusiasm to take action in the service of your noble goals.

Our job as a leader, indeed the expectations that our employees and colleagues have of us, is to engage their enthusiasm and their willingness to want to follow, to even surge out ahead of us. The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd Edition defines enthusiasm as "an absorption of the mind by a lively interest or pursuit." Synonyms for enthusiasm are: eagerness, fervor, zeal, passion, and devotion. To meet our employees' expectations, you will first need to be firmly grounded in your own enthusiasm. Then, and only then, will you truly have the ability to engage their enthusiasm to take action in service of the goals that are meaningful to you all.

And so, with the strength of humility, be curious about who you are, be curious about why anyone would want to follow you, and, be tremendously curious about the people and the world around you.

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By Joseph Seaton and Alex Perez-Rubio

In September of 2004 Allstate Insurance Company sent out a call for its employees to submit innovative proposals to help grow the company. Seeing this as an opportunity to implement meaningful change, we responded by submitting a proposal for the Allstate Leadership Academy. The competition drew more than 100 proposals. After a rigorous selection process the field was narrowed down to twelve finalists. The twelve finalists were required to submit a comprehensive written business plan and an oral presentation in front of senior Allstate Leadership.

We feel that effective leadership is the one thing that all winning organizations have in common, and that by growing better leaders we could help grow Allstate. We started the project by doing thorough research on different leadership theories, practices, and models. It was unanimous decision between the both of us that nothing could compare to Jim and Barry’s Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. What was especially appealing to us was that the Five Practices have nothing to do with position; leadership is all about behavior. Neither one of us is in a formal leadership position, therefore we could relate to this belief and felt encouraged that our actions can make a difference regardless of our position. We decided to use the five practices as the framework for a ten-day resident leadership development curriculum. Our business plan also uses The Leadership Challenge as the main text for the course.

The rules of the competition required us to only work on the project during our own time after performing our normal duties. We decided that to win this competition we had to be bold, and that we wanted to learn more about The Leadership Challenge. Using our own money and vacation time we flew to Sonoma, California from Richmond, Virginia to attend four days of facilitator training offered by Sonoma Leadership Systems. It was an incredible experience that we will never forget. Experiencing the training put on by Sonoma Leadership Systems was a critical component for us in developing a first class business plan.

In August 2005 we flew to corporate headquarters in Chicago to give a thirty-minute presentation followed by a fifteen minute Q & A. During the presentation we talked about each of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership and how these practices can develop extraordinary leaders and grow the company. On September 16th we were contacted by Allstate Senior Leadership and advised that our proposal for the development of the Allstate Leadership Academy won first place!

The company is now in the process of developing and implementing a pilot program based on our proposal. It’s been an honor a privilege to be a part of this process, we are grateful for the advise and encouragement that we received from Jim Kouzes, Jeni Nichols, and the entire staff at Sonoma Leadership Systems. We are also proud to work for a company that is serious about challenging the process by seeking innovative ways to change, grow, and improve.

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