1-Minute Win #60: Curiosity Wins

Curiosity keeps leaders growing.
 The moment you stop asking questions, you stop evolving.

#Leadership #Curiosity

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Welcome to One Minute Wins with Dr. Dana Martin. One quote, one lesson, one action to help you lead yourself and others better. Let's jump in. Welcome back to One Minute Wins. I am Dr. Dana Martin, and today, One Minute Wins number 60. Curiosity wins. I'm curious how many people have been waiting for number 60 since number 50 nine. Uh, a little bit of a break there, but definitely needed. Sometimes we need to take care of ourselves. This show, though, is about intentional growth and leaders who stay sharp, stay relevant, and stay effective. And today's episode, One Minute Wins Number 60, which goes along with One Minute Wins, take control of your growth journey one minute at a time. You can find that on Amazon.com. So let's start with this one truth that we all know and sometimes we like to ignore. And that is the moment you think that you know enough, you stop growing. Curiosity isn't optional in leadership, it's essential. And our quote that we're basing all of this on today is William Author Ward's quote of curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning. And I love, love, love the comparison of learning being a candle. No curiosity, no growth. No growth, no leadership. So today we're talking about why curiosity fuels discovery, fuels innovation, and better leadership decisions. So curiosity fuels discovery and innovation. If we break that down, what does that really mean? It means that curiosity asks better questions. Those better questions will eventually lead to a better, more thorough understanding. And then the understanding drives better decision making. Leaders who lose their curiosity, they begin to do things like assume they know the answer instead of ask. They react instead of explore. They repeat instead of improve. But curious leaders, curious leaders approach this differently. They listen very deeply, they challenge any assumptions, and they find new solutions. Curiosity doesn't slow you down, it sharpens and defines your direction. I once worked with a leader, struggled immensely with team communication, and the instinct, which I shared it, was to fix the problem quickly. More direction, more structure, more control, right? But instead of jumping into those kind of solutions, we we took a step back and we shifted to curiosity. We started asking why. What's getting in the way? If something is in the way or you can't identify what's in the way, what is blocking you? And what do you need from me to remove that block? Is there anything that you believe I'm missing? These are the questions that created more dialogue. And those answers that we received in those questions from those questions, that changed everything. So the issue wasn't like, was the team performing? Were they working hard enough? Of course they were. It was clarity, it was alignment. Curiosity uncovered what all of our assumptions had hidden. Oh man, I'm sure that resonates with at least one person listening. Here's a little bit of research, as always, to support this. Study published by Harvard Business Review found that leaders who actively demonstrate curiosity are perceived as more competent and build stronger relationships. And teams led by curious leaders are more innovative and better at problem solving. We live in a world where critical thinking and problem solving is almost a commodity. And additionally, this research also shows that curiosity increases engagement and improves decision making by reducing bias. Curiosity creates a lift of bias created by assumptions. It isn't soft or it's strategic. Curiosity. Here's another way to kind of think of it. Voltaire. Voltaire stated, judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. Answers show knowledge, but questions and how you ask those questions and what you're trying to get to, that's that reveals your thinking. And leaders who ask strong questions, they don't just solve problems, they uncover big better ones. Yeah. Strong questions can uncover bigger and better problems. There have been moments in my own leadership, of course, where I've moved way too fast to answer. Assuming that one, I understood, two, I probably already had the experience. So three, I had the solution. And more times than not, there was something in that that I missed that I got in my own way. But when I stepped back and I slowed down and I leaned into curiosity, asking just one more question. Just one more. And I listened and leaned in just a little longer. The outcome changed and improved. Curiosity didn't make me weaker as a leader. Asking questions did not reveal some sort of hidden vulnerability. It made me more effective. Here's how leaders can build curiosity into their everyday approach. Number one, ask one more question than you normally would. Don't settle for surface level answers. And if you have to dig deep that very first or second time, dig deep. Number two, challenge your assumptions. What are you treating as a fact that may not be? Number three, listen without preparing your response. Understanding comes before reply formulation. Number four, seek perspectives outside of your own. Growth lives in difference and in diversity. So what were these four? Number one, ask one more question than you normally would. Number two, challenge your assumptions. Number three, listen without preparing a response. And number four, seek perspectives outside of your own. Curiosity is it's a discipline. Not not just a personality trait. And here's what you need to ask today. What question do I need to ask today? Not I'm looking for a specific answer, and so I need to formulate a question to get to what question have you been avoiding asking? So the next step, very simple, seek one answer that expands your perspective today. And how do we get to it? By asking one more question. Ask it, listen fully without already trying to reply. Apply what you just learned, and curiosity will turn information into insight. Curious leaders will stay relevant, they will adapt faster, they will connect better, they will innovate more consistently. And when leaders stop asking questions, that's when their growing stops. Curiosity keeps leadership alive. Wait, what? Curiosity keeps leadership alive. Thank you for listening to One Minute Wins. I am Dr. Dana Martin. If this episode challenged you or resonated with you, uh please share it, like, subscribe, do all the stuff and things that you already know to do. But you'll find more information about me over at dmilm.com. And don't forget about the One Minute Win book series out now. Book series, book one, volume one, one minute wins. Take control of your growth journey one minute at a time. I think that's it for today. Always remember, be the example.