How Curious Are You?
Sometimes as leaders, we feel pressure to know everything. And sometimes as leaders we feel pressure to portray that we know everything. We say, “since I’m a leader, I can’t seem ignorant on this or that issue.” That pressure may come from our constituents, our community, or our congregation. But more times than most this is an internal pressure; an expectation we set for ourselves. A good leader knows to be curious and ask more questions.
I recently attended a training on curiosity where I learned more about why we should be more curious. Here are a few reasons that stuck with me.
How Many Questions Do We Ask?
Kids aged two-five years old ask an average of 100 questions a day. Adults ask an average of six questions a day. While curiosity is intrinsic and cannot be forced onto someone, we have been taught by our society that it’s bad to be curious and to ask questions. For example, the common idiom “curiosity killed the cat.”
One of the biggest killers of curiosity is busy-ness. We cannot be curious about things if we are zooming past them. We must relearn how to slow down and ask questions.
Part of Curiosity is Learning
It’s not enough to just ask questions, we also need to follow through and learn the answers to those questions. For example, millions of people saw apples fall to the ground. Isaac Newton asked why the apple fell to the ground and then spent the next 20 years or so looking for the answer. Thanks to his questions and his follow through, we now know about gravity.
When we are curious, ask questions, and find answers, our brain releases dopamine (a “happy” chemical that makes us feel good). This leads to improved mental health and longevity.
How Do I Become More Curious?
So how do we become more curious? We practice. We practice slowing down and asking questions. What that looks like for each of us is different. Maybe some of us need to ask more questions in our meetings. Maybe some of us already ask a lot of questions, but don’t follow through on digging in and learning. Whatever you think you need to improve on, set a goal to be more curious in your leadership role.
Our fellows and are alumni are some of the most curious people in the world. They’ve had the humility to ask themselves and others “how do I become a better leader.” Then they are taking the time to follow through and learn by participating in our program. This will not only benefit these rising leaders, but the communities these leaders serve. By being more curious leaders, we can be and inspire the change we want to see in our state and in our world.
