Curiosity – a leadership trait that improves team engagement, performance, and retention

Several years ago, when I did one of those leadership tests, I was surprised to see that my top leadership trait was Curiosity. I wasn’t surprised that I was curious… that much I knew. Because it was my insatiable curiosity that pushed me out into the world despite growing up as the shyest kid in the village. But what did surprise me is that it was my top leadership trait.

Now, you may have a different top leadership trait, and that’s great. We need different leaders who distinguish themselves through different qualities.

Having said that, if you are also curious, this will benefit your team and their success, both individually and as a whole. “How?” you may think. Let me explain…

There are, of course, different types of curiosity, and I like to call the one that’s desirable in the professional arena (and not only there), Engaging Curiosity.

Engaging Curiosity is curiosity that expresses respectful interest in people: their career aspirations, their specific needs and desires on the one hand; and their unique talents, skills, abilities and passions on the other.

When you are engagingly curious, you will easily figure out how they can and more eagerly will make the most meaningful contribution to the team or project.

On the other end of the stick, we have Invasive Curiosity.

Invasive Curiosity is curiosity that inquires about topics that are not relevant to the work setting or may be perceived as “too personal.”

It is not always easy to draw the line, and what is perceived as “too personal” will depend on the degree of acquaintance, how well people know each other and what their areas of interaction are. Determining the right scope of curiosity requires interpersonal skills like sensitivity and tact to distinguish where “Engaging” ends and where “Invasive” starts. But when you are authentically curious and come from a place of compassion and an honest intention to support the team member, curiosity can help you build trust.

One way to use curiosity wisely as a leader is to ask questions. Not just any questions but the right questions. I guess we could also call the right questions supportive questions. As a general rule, these should be open-ended questions because we want to grant our conversation partner an opportunity to share, and then, obviously, once asked, we hear them out. Asking without listening and acting on what we learn would be a waste of time.

Listen with an open mind, from a non- judgmental perspective, and you may uncover treasures within your team that you never suspected to find.

Let’s look at some examples of supportive questions:

·         What are your aspirations?

·         What do you need to achieve your goals?

·         What lifts you up?

·         Which parts of your work do you enjoy the most? Why?

·         Which parts of your work do you not feel great about? Why?

·         Where do you see any gaps in your skills/training to do your job better?

·         What are you passionate about?

·         How can we support your success?

·         If you’d be the decision-maker, what would you do differently?

·         What would you change if you had full authority?

·         What other areas would you like to get insight to?

You may be surprised at what you will learn!

The more people feel listened to, they more they will feel encouraged to share: More (and better inspired) ideas… possibly million-dollar ideas! They will feel more recognized and like their opinion matters, and this leads to greater engagement, enthusiasm, and proactivity.

Engaging curiosity will make you a more inclusive leader, as it allows you to consider the unique brilliance and genius of each team member. Without asking, you don’t know what you don’t know. The more conversations you have, the more insights you will gain about each employee’s individual greatness and aspirations.

These insights will help you adjust job descriptions and responsibilities within projects according to each person’s strengths, and to compensate for weaknesses within the team. You’re now able to better calibrate the complementary talents and strengths for improved individual and overall results, and your team members job satisfaction will go up in parallel. This can positively impact retention and reduce turnover cost.

After reading this, do you feel inspired to have more conversations where you ask more open-ended questions and actively listen to what will be shared with you? Then go ahead and schedule those meetings right away!