Curiosity Actually Saved the Cat

​In my experience as an executive in a Fortune 50 company, a business owner, and an executive coach, I know that being curious is an essential trait to being successful. In part, because it helps all of us human beings challenge previously held assumptions, allowing us to learn new facts and see new possibilities for taking action.

The CEO of a successful logistics company called me and told me he had recently hired Sophie as a senior project manager. She had an MBA and fifteen years of experience doing a similar job but was not yet performing as he had expected and asked me to coach her.
 
I met with Sophie in my office and I asked her how she thought she could benefit from my help (my standard question for new clients). She told me she knew how to do the job but somehow, she didn’t know how to engage with her people and the way they worked. She felt nervous and anxious all the time. 
 
I asked Sophie if she had asked anyone on her team questions about what they liked most and least about their work. She said no, as the software and processes they used were very similar to what were used by her previous employer. I suggested to Sophie that curiosity is an extremely important quality for any leader. New leaders coming into an organization need to build trust. That’s the foundation of any relationship whose purpose is to create value through working together. An added bonus I said to Sophie is that you are familiar with the software your team is using so you have what sociologists call a background of common understanding.
 
Being a curious leader makes others feel more psychologically safe. Consequently, employees are more likely to surface problems before they become a crisis. And they’re more likely to come to their leader with questions. The leader can then become a coach and create a learning environment which helps the entire team. 
 
I said to Sophie that your team’s capacity can exceed the sum of each person’s individual intelligence. Team members are likely to build on one another’s ideas. Research has shown that curiosity can create what’s been called collective intelligence. This leads to higher employee engagement and less turnover.
 
Processes create clarity. Sophie left my office committing to first have one on one conversations with each team member where they would take about themselves personally and then shared the pluses and minuses of their work. Next, fly in the two remote workers so she can have an in person all hands meeting. Research has demonstrated that remote workers excel once they have had in person meetings with other team members. During the meeting they would all list current challenges and brainstorm solutions, then create action plans with timelines, ensuring each team member can collaborate with others. I suggested three monthly hybrid team meetings where they would acknowledge progress made and continue to surface new problems, collaborate on solutions, and take action. Then, in three months Sophie would do another round of one on ones and express curiosity about how it’s going at work and anything else they wanted to talk about. Being curious, open, and receptive as a leader demonstrates a powerful type of authenticity that helps others feel appreciated and bonds them closer to the leader and to the team.
 
The CEO called me after a month and told me that Sophie had transformed into the employee he hoped she would be when he hired her. I hope each of you can use your curiosity to deepen the relationships around you and produce value for yourself, your customers, and the communities in which you live.