Lead with Curiosity: Dance to the Beat Before You Change the Rhythm
Article 13 in the Leadership in Real Life Series.
Jennifer Youngblood
7/15/20262 min read
I want to close this series on leading with curiosity with this observation: When you step into a new leadership role, almost everything you can see on day one is a symptom. Not the true problem that needs to be addressed.
What people tell you needs to change. What the data shows on the surface. The parts that have been flagged. The “problems” that are visible. These are usually symptoms.
Most of us are placed in a new role with a mandate to "fix" something. The truth is that the people who gave you that mandate, and the predecessor who also worked tirelessly to “fix” things, may not fully see the root cause. You find that root cause, the true problem, after exploring the history, the relationships, the cultural norms that never made it into any document, and after listening to what people say and what they don't.
In one of my senior posts, I stepped in after receiving a long list of performance concerns from my boss, who expected me to have a plan to address them by the end of that first week. I didn’t build a plan that week. I went on a talking and listening tour instead. I met with colleagues and counterparts, then every unit in the office. I talked about me first, sharing my story, why I was excited to be there, offering personal details that showed I was willing to be vulnerable and human.
That set the stage so that I could ask them open-ended questions. When they trust you enough to talk to you, and when you can listen to what they say and what they don't, you can learn everything you need to know. What I found surprised me. The office had recently been reorganized; multiple units had merged into one. The people at the top understood why. Almost no one else did. Units were still operating as if they'd never been brought together. They didn't even use the same words for the same things, which meant they couldn't collaborate effectively. Of course their performance wasn't improving no matter how high the bar was set.
The performance problem was real. But trying to fix performance directly would have been the wrong move. What was needed was to explain the why of the reorganization, explain why and how they would do better work together, and to do the work to build those connections across units. I needed to prove the value of the collaboration they were dismissing. We improved performance and quality. But we couldn't start there. Those were the symptoms.
The discipline of observing before acting isn't hesitation. It's how you avoid spending months solving the wrong problem. It protects your team from the fatigue of constant redirection. And it means that when you do take action, you move with real understanding of the system you're working inside.
You can and should make things better.
You'll just do it far more effectively once you understand the rhythm you're stepping into.
Leadership in Real Life: Lead with Curiosity
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