The Curiosity Advantage: How Retail Leaders Can Foster Success
I was having a conversation with a colleague a few weeks ago, and we stumbled across a subtle but important difference in how we were thinking about a specific situation. She mentioned it was the difference between being curious and being suspicious. That immediately caught my ear and I thought about how similar those two things can be, only separated by mindset and possibly intention. From a leadership perspective, this is a critical variation and one that certainly requires a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset approach.
Let’s define these two things a little further.
Curiosity: is characterized by a desire to explore, learn, and gain knowledge about our surrounding environment. Being curious is driven by a genuine interesting in learning or discovering new things or ideas. Curious leaders are driven by a sense of wonder, open to learning, and have a thirst for knowledge. A positive mindset is required and supports the need to understand and appreciate the subject being studied.
Suspicion: involves a sense of doubt, mistrust, or wariness towards something or someone. When someone is suspicious, they harbor doubts or reservations about the intentions, actions, or truthfulness of others. Suspicion often arises from a perception of potential harm, deception, or hidden agendas. It is driven by a negative mindset and seeks to uncover potential threats or dishonesty.
Now, in our world of retail, there can be a cause and need for both of these thought processes. Unfortunately, our environment requires some level of knowing when to raise an eyebrow and dig in further while leaning to the suspicion side. However, I would always challenge that the core motivation should be learning versus assuming or accusing first. Curiosity doesn’t have to be blind to potential negative outcomes.
Some other thoughts:
Curious: seek to understand
Suspicious: seek to blame
Curious: looking for innovative ideas from a competitor
Suspicious: afraid that others will steal your ideas
Curious: asks open-ended questions
Suspicious: asks leading questions based on assumptions
Curious: engaging a customer to support and serve
Suspicious: profiling and watching where someone goes
Curious: observe to coach and provide feedback
Suspicious: watch to see if something bad is happening
Balance is critical. As I mentioned above, there is a need to stay connected to reality. And reality necessitates a healthy level of skepticism and critical thinking. Those do not have to be bad, or tip into suspicion. It merely keeps you grounded in other possibilities that would be less desirable to discover.
The curious leader encourages employees to explore new ideas, provide feedback, and contribute to process improvements. They organize and engage in brainstorming sessions, foster a learning culture, and create opportunities for skill development. By valuing curiosity, they empower their team members to think creatively and continuously improve their work. Stay curious.
How will you balance your curiosity and suspicion in your role?
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Photo by Chris Arthur-Collins on Unsplash