I’m just back from the fun city of Nashville, TN. I was there to attend a leadership conference, and boy, was it worth my time. The organizers treated us to great keynote speakers and many engaging breakout sessions. I am all about continuous learning, so this annual conference fits my bill. It was three days of learning from experts as …
Several colleagues and I were discussing our views on leadership not long ago. Soon the conversation turned to leadership attributes. After several rounds of the usual qualities — integrity, transparency, humility, vision, you’ve heard them all. But, for us, curiosity emerged as perhaps the essential attribute of a great leader. After that conversation, I came across this quote from Ozan …
Curiosity: One of the attributes of strong leaders is curiosity. But curiosity takes much work. And brain work takes energy—science tells us that the human brain consumes about 20% of our total body energy budget. That’s why another common trait for solid leaders is keeping themselves in good physical condition. They pay attention to their mental and physical health through …
An Old Saying: A saying I grew up with was, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” I wasn’t far into a college education when I figured out that that was a lousy saying. I knew what it meant—if you didn’t know about a tragedy or pending trauma, then you can’t worry about it. However, these days, some folks appear to take that saying literally. They stay willfully ignorant.
The Curiosity Trap: As mentioned several times on this blog, curiosity is a common trait of successful leaders. Many leadership coaches consider curiosity to be a requisite leadership strength. Also, on the blog, I have mentioned that one’s strength is also a weakness. How do these two precepts jibe? When is curiosity a weakness? Disruption The employees of highly curious …
Critical Thinking: I’m struggling a bit with my thoughts on how to prepare people, especially our young people, for the work world ahead of us. Indeed, some necessary skills will be required. But which ones? It is next to impossible to predict what “jobs” will exist, let alone what skills will be needed. Surely, we will be required to work …
Just Wondering Not long ago, several colleagues and I were discussing our views on leadership. Soon the conversation turned to leadership attributes. After several rounds of the usual attributes — integrity, transparency, humility, vision, etc. — curiosity emerged as perhaps the most important attribute of a great leader. Subsequent to that conversation, I came across this quote from Ozan Varol: “The most dangerous …
Embrace Doubt: Often, I will start out with a new client, project or endeavor with a considerable amount of conscious doubt. What makes me think I can do this? What makes me think I will be the best coach for this person? When will they find out I’m really an impostor? Frankly I can’t think of a time when I …
Rudyard Kipling: “IN the High and Far-Off Times, the Elephant, O Best Beloved, had no trunk. He had only a blackish, bulgy nose, as big as a boot, that he could wriggle about from side to side; but he couldn’t pick up things with it. But there was one Elephant—a new Elephant—an Elephant’s Child—who was full of ‘satiable curtiosity (sic), …
Cats As far back as I can remember, my family has “always” had cats as household pets. Presently my wife and I have two relatively large cats. They are littermates, kept indoors, and are great companions. We like having two so that they can keep each other company during the times when we are away. And this way, there is …