Fascination in Leadership Team

If there is not a fascination energy in your Leadership Team you are probably missing the point.

That’s fascinating!!

Curiosity – the desire to know or learn something

Activating new levels of fascination is a key component in Leadership Team.

It’s not about rote learning – which can be done better by devices now anyway. It is about wonder and exploration.

 “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled”

~ Plutarch

Research identifies three key reasons why curiosity is more important to organisational performance than has been traditionally considered.

1. Curiosity helps leaders at all levels learn and adapt to the changing environment.
2. When our curiosity is activated we think more deeply and rationally about decisions and come up with more creative solutions
3. Curiosity develops more trusting and more collaborative relationships within teams

‘Why Curiosity Matters’, Harvard Business Review September 2018 by Francesca Gino

Curiosity helps us Learn | Think more deeply | Develop better relationships

Researching and Mentoring Future-Ready Leadership Teams got me studying CURIOSITY. You could say I am curious about being curious and its role in unlocking Leadership Team performance.

Todd Kashdan a Professor of Psychology at George Mason University has been a researcher on curiosity for over 20 years and unpacks the topic in the paper “The five dimensional curiosity scale. Capturing the bandwidth of curiosity and identifying four unique subgroups of curious people” by Todd B. Kashdan PhD

From his work we can be more articulate (and visual) about the groupings of curious people. Which makes this a great tool for Leadership Team discussion and reflection.

The Avoiders are not looking to move beyond their comfort zone and avoid learning where possible

The Problem Solvers define those that are curious in their field of technical focus. They dig deep in this field. However, they have a low social curiosity about the drivers of human nature, feelings, and other people’s needs and concerns.

The Empathisers are interested in the social drivers, understanding people and their motivations and concerns, while not as interested in technical matters.

The Fascinated are interested in both social and technical perspectives. The world is fascinating. People are fascinating. Different perspectives are fascinating. Connecting across topics is fascinating.  Unpacking topics is fascinating.

The Center for Creative Leadership research of 763 middle and executive level leaders in organisations from China, the US, the UK, India, Singapore, Egypt, and Spain identifies the Top 6 Leadership Challenges around the world as:

• Developing Managerial Effectiveness (developing skills such as strategic thinking, decision making and prioritisation)
• Inspiring others
• Developing employees
• Leading Teams
• Guiding Change
• Managing internal stakeholders

Interestingly all these challenges are combinations of social and technical factors.

To understand the context, develop and explore alternative options, to create creative solutions requires fascination in Leadership Teams.

The other types of curiosity can have you missing the point in strategy and strategy execution.

I have talked about curiosity with hundreds of leadership teams over the years and everyone knows the answer to this question.

Question:           Who in your life experience displays the highest levels of curiosity/ fascination?

Answer:              Children

What is that about??

The great thing is that curiosity is our natural state. It is there to be re-kindled.

The secret is out: To Be A Leader, You Must Learn How to Be a Follower