“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
— Albert Einstein
When I write about leadership I love to approach the subject from the perspective of “leading yourself first” because great leadership isn’t always about leading people but about how we learn how to lead ourselves because when we master leading ourselves we easily and almost magically attract people to our sphere of leadership light and they would naturally want to be led and guided by you. It’s that simple, only that very few people realise this and take the effort and struggle to settle down and learn how to lead themselves, and that’s why we’ve very few genuine leaders today.
You see, we are finding ourselves in a world where people are becoming more self-aware and are questioning everything. People are beginning to see leadership in a different light. They feel leadership is about control. And they don’t want to be controlled. Nobody really wants to be controlled. But when we portray the act of leadership as something more and better than control, it’s easier for people to understand and join you on the journey.
Becoming a great leader takes a lot of effort, and it’s never a destination but a journey that keeps unravelling new things again and again.
When you look at all the teachings and practices about how to become a great leader, you discover—looking closely—that everything actually rests upon one hidden quality. And leaders who understand this hidden quality and deliberately improve it in their lives are the ones who always stand out and become truly great leaders.
What is this quality? You may know it—the ability to learn new things and stay forever curious and open.
The Curiosity And Learning Mindset
This is the foundation of great leadership. The rare ability to always have an open mind to learn anything and everything, even unlearning what you once held so dear, but you do away with it because it won’t help you grow.
Curiosity is the fuel of innovation. It’s through curiosity that we can spot things others might not notice. A curious mind is the ultimate magnet for ideas. If you want to really stand out as a leader in any area, always ensure your mind is open to learning. There’s always a lot to learn. Learning might be a curve for you, but never get to the point where it becomes a plateau and there’s no significant upward improvement–let the curve, and up and downs, always keep leading up.
The moment you begin to plateau in learning, it becomes very difficult to withstand external pressure, and this is why many leaders become obsolete: they never learn to keep their minds open and curious at all times.
True Curiosity Fights Complacency
The temptation to just coast is a formidable foe. We’re tempted to ditch the labours and rigours of constant learning and just settle for a superficially easy life. The only antidote to complacency is staying curious and always learning. Your mind is like an organic sponge that’s always hungry, absorbing everything (useful and relevant) around it.
Learning isn’t always about taking in new things; it’s also about expunging old stuff from your mind.
Complacency is the hidden disease that gradually eats away at a leader from the inside out. A little folding of the hands to relax, and before you know it, you’re drowning in your own ignorance.
Nurturing Curiosity
“Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.”
— Edgar Allan Poe
We’re born naturally curious. Have you ever watched young children? Especially toddlers. I’ve a three-year-old who’s always getting into trouble because of her high level of curiosity. She wants to know everything, always asking questions, pulling things apart, and trying to find out what’s inside. All human beings are born like this. We’re born with the desire to know how everything around us works, and I think it’s a survival strategy for our species: the more we want to know, the more we discover how our world works, and the more we create systems, tools, and strategies to survive.
You see, without curiosity, we begin to die gradually. The day the human race stops being curious, we won’t make any more progress and might even go extinct, because new troubles keep coming our way. Our curiosity drives us to learn more and make the next big discoveries that preserve our species across science, medicine, healthcare, energy, engineering, etc.
The easiest way to nurture curiosity is to drive yourself. Push yourself to learn. Push yourself to go beyond the surface and strive to understand things more deeply.
Don’t be satisfied with what’s on the surface. Don’t be “OK” with what you knew yesterday. Discoveries are being made every day in your field; seek fresh, up-to-date knowledge. This is the single trait that will make you the greatest in your ecosystem—having that child-like curiosity that constantly drives you to learn.
The Fight To Remain Curious
It’s how we remain relevant—by staying curious and learning throughout our lives.
Curiosity is a natural trait we’re all born with, but as we grow, it begins to fade because the systems that surround us, from our educational systems and work cultures, do not encourage genuine curiosity, so we slowly lose the ability. The few of us who manage to rediscover this ability later in life are the ones who go ahead to do great things with our lives.
If you’re reading this, then it means you’re alive and capable of discovering this curious side of yours that has been buried for too long.
That child-like curiosity that’s always asking questions with an open mind and trying to understand how everything works.
At its core, curiosity means being pliable and flexible, open to new things and willing to let go of outdated mindsets.
