Should we be a curious leader?We all know that most kids are very curious and they just can’t get enough of asking questions. At the age of three or four they will ask extensive and expansive questions to no end. What are you doing? Why are you doing it that way? Can I help? Are we done? Hey, these aren’t just good questions for a child, these sort of questions can help us as well. However, as we get older and acquire more education, most of us tend to ask fewer questions. As leaders, some of us will not ask the hard questions at all and we sometimes slip into the autocratic approach. In the autocratic approach the leaders make all of the decisions and we turn the team into drones. The autocratic approach has its place but when we are leading high energy driven teams that are striving for continual improvement, the autocratic approach will stifle new ideas. The curious leader will probe and will continue to probe, until he or she receives a solid answer. When we ask questions we are forcing offense. In other words, we are turning over rocks, finding the bugs and digging up the dead bodies. We are not operating in a passive state, waiting for the ball to come to us, we are forcing a turnover to score! Do you want to know the challenges and what’s going on? Ask! Take the time now to schedule a meeting with that group, team or leader to collectively move your organization forward.
How can we be more like children in maintaining that tenacious drive to ask the right questions to solve problems? Do you believe the curious leader is the catalyst for dragging all of the skeletons out of the closet?
“Children are curious and are risk takers. They have lots of courage. They venture out into a world that is immense and dangerous. A child initially trusts life and the processes of life.” – John Bradshaw
