An Underrated Skill That Separates Good From Great

I’m often asked what separates the good from the great when it comes to student recruitment, territory management, marketing, or leadership.

After reflecting on 30 years of friendships and conversations with other CEO’s, Fortune 500 executives, college and professional coaches, a few professional athletes, and a number of other high performers across multiple industries including Higher Ed, I can tell you that being elite requires mastering the mental game.  

Mental skills are a big differentiator because they literally determine how we show up and perform on a daily basis, and how we respond to challenges.

One mental skill that I believe doesn’t get enough attention and focus is curiosity.

Not the kind of curiosity that leads you down a rabbit hole on your cell phone late at night (although I’m guilty of that too), I mean the kind that drives you to ask things like why, how, help me understand, and what if.

While some of us are just wired to wonder, many of us need to cultivate this skill. Doing that involves humility, being open to new perspectives, asking better questions, and surrounding yourself with people who at times will challenge your thinking.

When we're curious it helps fuel our creativity. It also helps us deal with change. If you want to be more adaptable (or you want your team to), commit to being more curious.

Here are a few ways you can do that:

• Think of all the conversations you have each week. What kinds of direct questions if you prepared them ahead of time would change the depth of conversation you have, and allow you to better the other person’s wants, needs, worries, concerns, or point of view.

• Choose a skill or area of your job you want or need to be better in and reach out to a colleague or friend that excels in that area. You could also read a book or listen to a podcast on that particular subject.

• Which campus partner (or which person in that office) do you need to spend more time with because doing so will allow you to better understand their processes, which in turn will help inform your current and future strategies.

• If you’re not currently in a position of leadership but you want to “lead up”, learn how your supervisor is wired and the style of communication they prefer.

• If you’re hoping to move into a managerial role in the near future, reach out to different people (those you know and those you don’t) who currently hold the role you aspire to. Get a better understanding now of what the job actually entails, and where your strengths and weaknesses might be.

• If you manage one or more team members, think about the way you conduct your 1-on-1’s. Are you leaning into curiosity enough? Do you know what makes each person feel valued. How do they like to receive appreciation? What triggers them and sets them off? What motivates them to do their best work? I also encourage you to be a little vulnerable and ask questions like “What’s one thing you need from me this week to help you be successful?” Or, “What’s one thing I’m not doing enough of, or at all, that you need me to?”

• If you’re part of a hiring committee, look for candidates who display curiosity, and during the interview process ask them how they currently infuse it each week.

If you’re looking to grow and excel, I encourage you to intentionally set aside time once a week to be curious.