Why Curiosity Is the Most Underrated Leadership Skill

How staying open, asking better questions, and protecting wonder can transform the way we lead—and live.

What if the key to your next big insight isn't found in knowing more, but in wondering more?

That’s the quiet power of curiosity. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t demand attention. But it changes everything when we let it lead.

When I started traveling internationally, I didn’t just want to see new places—I wanted to understand them. I was curious—curious about what I was seeing, how people lived, and what made each place unique. That curiosity became a habit. After each trip, I would reflect—sometimes writing a piece, usually around 1,500 to 2,000 words—capturing what I experienced, what I was reading, the conversations I had, and how it all impacted me.

Over time, those reflections did something unexpected. They helped me understand not just the world a bit better but also my own country. They shifted my perspective inward, not just outward. And that whole process—the writing, the noticing, the questioning—eventually led me to write Ponder, a book born out of years of paying attention.

Curiosity Is the Most Underrated Leadership Skill

I had a meaningful conversation with my friend Lori on a recent trip to Kenya. She leads a global initiative that helps leaders lead better, and as we talked about growth and change, she shared something that stayed with me. She said curiosity is one of her top five traits. Through her work with leaders around the world, she's seen that the curious ones are the ones who keep growing. They don’t settle. They stay open.

That resonated deeply. Because if I had to answer the question—how do we grow?—I would come back to the same place: curiosity.

It’s not loud. It doesn’t demand attention. But it shows up quietly, and powerfully, when we encounter something unfamiliar and choose not to walk past it. It’s that moment when we pause, ask questions, look deeper. It’s the desire to see something from a new angle. Not to judge or to solve, but to understand. What’s behind what I’m seeing? Why does it work this way? How should it work?

This kind of curiosity has shaped the way I lead and live. It pushes me to keep learning, gives me pause when things feel too obvious, and leads me back into reflection because reflection is how curiosity takes root.

And I’ve learned that to protect curiosity, especially as a leader, you have to create space for it.

You can’t schedule growth on a calendar.

But you can make space to reflect, slow down, and let an experience speak to you. Without that pause, the insight slips past.

It also means asking better questions—not just “what happened?” but “why did that happen?”, “how did it affect me or others?”, and “what might I not be seeing yet?” These aren’t always efficient questions, but they are the ones that deepen perspective.

Curiosity also requires us to welcome the unfamiliar. I’ve noticed how easy it is, when I encounter something new—or even something I don’t like—to jump straight to what’s wrong with it, especially at work when an opposing view comes up.

That reflex clouds my judgment and, honestly, flatters my ego a bit. But curiosity offers a different path. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong here?” I’ve started asking, “What am I missing? What don’t I see that I need to see to understand better?”

That shift opens me up. It might mean listening to voices that challenge me, engaging with ideas I don’t fully grasp yet, or just admitting, “I don’t know,” and letting that be a starting point instead of a threat.

It’s a way of staying a learner—not just in formal settings, but in everyday moments.

• Reading widely.

• Traveling when possible.

• Listening to people who see the world differently.

• Letting discomfort stretch us instead of shutting us down.

And maybe more than anything, curiosity is about protecting wonder. In a world that often pushes us toward speed, certainty, and productivity, it’s the choice to be still surprised. To still be open.

Lately, that question of what I’m missing has turned me toward AI. Not the technical side—I’m not an expert there—but the human side. How will AI shape the way we live? The way we relate to one another? The way we work, lead, and make decisions? These questions don’t have easy answers. But they’re important. And they keep me leaning forward. What about you? What’s something that has recently sparked your curiosity—and what are you doing with it? It’s been about reading, asking questions, and letting those unknowns simmer as I figure out what they mean.

So I’ve come to see curiosity as something I want to guard and nurture. Not just because it makes life more interesting, but because it keeps me growing. It keeps me present. It keeps me from becoming too sure of myself. Maybe it starts with one small question today—something to carry into the next conversation or quiet moment.

Because what if the question you’re not asking yet... is the one that could change everything?

It starts, yes, as a posture of the heart—but over time, it becomes a skill. One we can all practice.

One that every leader, in every season, would do well to protect.