2nd Characteristic of a humble leader: *Curiosity*
Posted on February 22, 2022 by Clario Bonandini, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
Curiosity killed the cat the saying goes… However, researchers have found that curiosity can improve processes and companies to go from good to great.
Curiosity
We can think about curiosity from two perspectives: as something that originated in ourselves, for our own satisfaction or, we can think about it as a service to a higher end. Humility gives curiosity the right framework to serve goals, projects and others.
When a leader wants to know how to improve things, how to help people to work better and more efficiently, curiosity comes handy. Asking questions to find out how things are and how they can be different has to do with a curious leader.
Read about how the new head of a company improved their banking division by being curious:
“To understand just how big a difference those leadership choices make, consider the story of Standard Chartered. When Jungkiu Choi moved from Singapore to China for his new role as head of the company’s consumer banking division, he did something that stunned branch managers. Instead of pressuring them to cut costs during his site visits, Jungkiu asked employees how he could improve their branches.
Thanks to Jungkiu’s humble leadership, Standard Chartered’s customer satisfaction increased by 54 percent, while customer complaints fell by 28%. Most impressively, the bank’s employee attrition rate plummeted from the highest of China’s foreign banks to the lowest.
Those at the top of the company totem pole often forget just how much value “lower-level” workers bring to the table. Simply by asking for input and treating others with dignity, leaders can transform the way their teams see, treat, and perform with each other – sowing the seeds for growth while nurturing a reputation for excellence.” writes William Arruda
Jungkiu could have given into the temptation to come up with all his answers for the company’s problems; instead, he was curious and asked questions to the people were doing the job on the front line. His humility prompted him to be curious to call the right people to the table and ask them for input. This resulted in them feeling honored and attrition dropped to the lowest level ever.
