You’ve heard the old saw: “Curiosity killed the cat.” While that idiom may hold fair warning for cats, it’s not a great tenet for humans to live by.
People with truly curious minds tinker, poke, stretch, re-do, undo, experiment, innovate, and improvise. They LEARN! (And, usually, they’re fun.)
The best leaders I know take that curiosity to another level. They use their curious minds to foster improvement in themselves, in their teams, and in their organizations on two important fronts:
1) Observation and Attention-Paying — these leaders closely watch, attend, listen, notice, discern …. ALL the time.
2) Inquire — these leaders ask really good questions of themselves, of their teams, of their competitors, and of high performers in other professions. Moreover, they learn from the responses they get because they LISTEN to those answers.
Wonder what I can learn today, and from whom?
Think I’ll ask.
*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.
Nelson Coulter
Nelson Coulter has held a lot of titles: rancher, educator, author, musician, entrepreneur, coach, mentor, consultant, and professor. He has coached, taught, and been published in many settings. He has served in public schools of all shapes, sizes, and contexts. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice at Louisiana State University - Shreveport. His most cherished titles, however, are the ones not attached to career identity: son, husband, dad, and granddad.
