I see a lot of people talking about curiosity.
How it’s the key to connecting with your teams and customers.
I agree.
But we’re talking about the same curiosity.
Real curiosity requires vulnerability.
Without it, you’re still not listening.
Fake curiosity looks like this:
✖️ Asking follow-up questions for the sake of it.
✖️ Guiding the conversation back to something you know about.
✖️ Waiting for your turn to give advice.
Real curiosity looks like this:
✅ Asking follow-up questions and staying present for the answers.
✅ Allowing the conversation to go into areas you know nothing about.
✅ Resisting the urge to give advice.
That is a lot harder than it sounds.
I built a career on being a good listener.
And I was, mostly.
But I was also guiding the conversation back to my comfort zone.
I was afraid of what people would think of a coach with no answers.
In the last 3 years, I’ve gotten more comfortable with vulnerability.
Allowing conversations to go into areas I know nothing about.
I’m learning to tame my inner ADVICE MONSTER.
It’s that part of us that is dying to speak up to offer advice.
“Oh, I have a story for this.”
“Oh, I have a lesson for this.”
The advice monster eats curiosity for breakfast.
They can’t occupy the same space at the same time.
So, when you feel the advice monster getting loose, try this…
1️⃣ Ask one more question.
2️⃣ Then, stay present for the answer.
You just became a better listener than 99% of the people out there.
Now that is a superpower.
