Leadership Development Newsletter Week Three

I trust that the intuitive writing tool was a useful tool to begin to do some exploration.

You have heard the saying that curiosity killed the cat.

Did it really?

Or did it take the cat on a different path than it originally wanted to take? Did it lead to a better solution, a better ending, or a different scenery?

Where do you use curiosity?

As a leader, curiosity is a vital tool for team building and relationship building. Curiosity can lead us to a new way to navigate tasks.

You can use curiosity with yourself. Yes! You can use it with yourself.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you feel stuck on a problem or a process or even questioned an emotion?

I use curiosity when I am feeling stuck with the next step in a business process. First, I sit down and ask myself what I have just completed. Then, I began asking myself what the next step is. Oftentimes, this is where the curiosity comes in because I may be stuck on what it is. I ask myself what is the end goal that I am looking to achieve. I began working backwards from the end goal is small steps back to where I am right now. This process helps me to see the steps that I need to take; however, I was stuck in the weeds of trying to do it all when I only needed to take one more step to kickstart the process again.

Now, let’s take this process and apply it to relationship building or team building or parenting for that matter. Imagine that you are working on a project or a process and someone deviates from the process. This person decides to skip steps or not check in with the team. Instead of calling this person out what if you had a conversation with them. “Jimmy, what is the reason that you chose not to check in with Sandy on this project?” (Please note that I use “what is the reason” rather than “Why”. Subconsciously, when you choose “why”, this word puts the person on automatic defense mode and fight or flight. They have to find a way to defend themselves while what is the reason is asking them to going within for the answer.) Allow Jimmy to explain. Then, continue to get curious and ask another question using the words that Jimmy used to explain the reason.

By creating an environment of curiosity, you begin to build a stronger trust bond with the team members, friends, and children. Also, you create an environment where mistakes are not feared as an automatic punishment. Failure is seen as an option and not a punishment.

As Ryan Leak talks about in “Chasing Failure”, leaders will build stronger teams and opportunities for learning if they can create a failure friendly environment. Failure friendly environments are environments where curiosity blooms and where creativity and exploration could lead to new processes and new possibilities.

Now, it is time to apply curiosity. Here are some questions for exploration:

• Where can apply more curiosity in your life?

• Where have you used curiosity and what results did it lead to?

• Who could you be more curious about?

• Where can you be more curious about yourself?

• How can you use curiosity to create a more failure friendly environment?

Thank you for being on this journey to discover your own leadership.

Have a blessed week.

Your Guide,

Michele Coy