Consistently Cultivating Curiosity.

How can coaches consistently cultivate curiosity in student-athletes lives?

Is connection, compassion, and creating time to pause, think, and develop more self-awareness in ourselves and others the answer?

Where can we be more inquisitive? Is our goal professionally to be the dumbest in the room? Or be the most curious and surround ourselves with others who are highly inquisitive?

I can not stop thinking about these tweets from Adam Grant that I discovered a few weeks ago. Ever since I read these it has been imprinted into my brain. Shining a new light on my curiosity and making me ask more questions. Are we born curious? Why is there a divide between who is curious and who is not? His tweet made me pause and ask myself, as coaches how do we celebrate and cultivate curiosity in others? AND IN OURSELVES?

I am a curious person it is a part of my soul and one of my core values. This tweet made me think about who, what, where, when, and why am I like that? How did become one of my core values? Who pushed me to wonder or who didn’t put me down when I was asking a question? Or even when I did get put down keep asking questions in different ways? It may have been a combination of my father teaching me things “you will need to know when you are older” like changing the oil or how to put the snow tires on around Thanksgiving (Family Tradition). In combination with my mother’s genuine “Wow! That’s cool!” when I would teach her something I learned.

In a world of coaching, performance, and becoming who we want to be we are always looking for improvement. There are those stereotypical quotes that say “don’t be the smartest people in the room.” or “If you feel like you're always the dumbest person in the room, your career is probably on the right track.” Maybe both of those goals aren’t necessarily the right target. It isn’t enough to be the dumbest person in the room, it must be a combination of surrounding yourself with a community of forward thinkers and doubling down on your curiosity. Understanding what are the qualities of the people that you surround yourself with through asking questions and digging deeper.

Deeply thinking of good questions, having the willingness to rethink ideas, and then having the courage to live out that curiosity by speaking up to ask questions. In being more curious about who we coach with and who we directly coach, is it possible to inspire others to do the same? If consistently cultivating curiosity in others is the goal then we must do it ourselves first. Celebrating others’ curiosity and making it okay for others to do the same.

• Celebrate Curiosity

• Consistently Cultivate Curiosity in others

Fired up when someone asks a question! Thank you so much for asking! Asks a thought-provoking question that makes them ponder? Ahhhh hmmmm that is a good question... (moments). Creating space where it is okay to ask questions. Okay to wonder and then speak up! As Adam Grant said, “Inquisitive people are catalysts for learning.”

Two Questions:

• How can we lead by example and be more curious?

• How can we celebrate and consistently cultivate curiosity in others?

Curiosity is a core value that is directly related to the richness of our experience and living life to the fullest. It pushes us to the edge and out of our comfort zone to learn more about something. Curiosity can be your secret weapon in your back pocket when navigating outside of your comfort zone. A quiet confidence that it is all okay in not knowing it all. Using it is a strength to ask better questions, seek greater understanding, and connect with different people.

How many doors or opportunities have we discovered in our life that we didn’t even know were there before? A lot. By simply asking questions, getting curious, and being a high-level listener.

Best Day of The Year, Until Tomorrow…

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