Monthly Archives: September 2013

Are you Keen About Curiosity as a Management Strategy? Part 4 of 4 Part Series

Being curious about curiosity as a management strategy

Keep attending to the expansion of your curiosity. How can your sense of curiosity help you to take the steps that will help you increase your management skills?  Take a moment to recall a number of people whose management skills you admire. Who amongst them stands out as radiating curiosity? In what ways might you have been inspired by that quality of theirs?  Contrast that with remembering all the many people in positions whose leadership skills did not seem to show the spark of vitality that curiosity brings. Who would you want to work with most?  Now think of anyone in your life whom you might look to you for leadership. See yourself through their eyes. Using the “Curiosity Meter” how do you think they might rate you, using a scale of 1-10 (1 is lowest). What are they seeing or hearing that has them assessing you so?

Finally ask yourself these questions:

1. How will managing without curiosity impact your team’s morale, productivity and profitability?

2. How will managing with curiosity impact your team’s morale, productivity and profitability?

For more resources about curiosity and how to incorporate it into your cadre of management skills or to learn about management training, visit our websites at http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com or https://boldnewdirections.com

  

For More Information About Growing Your Management Skills

 For more resources about management skills training, managing change, or building team effectiveness, visit our website at: http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com or learn about management training at https://boldnewdirections.com . Or look back to read parts 1, 2 & 3 of this Series on Improving Your Management Skills Through Curiosity which was adapted from the book entitled Managing From The Inside Out written by Jim Hornickel, edited by Suzanne Guthrie, available at http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com

  

Source url :
http://www.managementraininginstitute.com

Curiosity Can Be Key Management Skill – Part 3 of 4 Part Series

Raise your management skills by using curiosity to increase positive collaborations.

When you approach others with respect and a sincere curiosity about what they have to say and to offer, they will generally experience you in a more receptive light. Your curiosity allows you to collaborate with the people you manage. Collaborative managers and leaders draw people in; and most people love to be involved. They appreciate it – even thrive on it. Your curiosity about how your staff might bring benefit to any situation will serve both of you.

Karen had decided to use authentic curiosity to help build the relationships with the members of her team, and to get to know them more closely. As a walk-around manager, Karen created lots of one-on-one opportunities to get to know her team through curiosity. What made them tick? What did they like about their jobs (what were their motivators)? What did they dislike and why (de-motivators)? When she was feeling really brave, she thought she would even ask them what they liked and disliked about her. (Wow! When was the last time you heard a manager do that?) Karen resolved to do her best to use a warm tone, not easy when there had been an initial mutual dislike. But she knew that a warm tone would go a long way to having her questions of curiosity received with more openness.

 Keep attending to the expansion of your curiosity. Consider your curiosity as a key management skill that can open up new relationships and positivity in your organization.  Help other members of your management team develop this key management skill by offering coaching and training. 

For more resources about curiosity and how to incorporate it into your cadre of management skills or to learn about management training, visit our websites at http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com or https://boldnewdirections.com

 

 

 

For More Information About Growing Your Management Skills

 For more resources about management skills training, managing change, or building team effectiveness, visit our website at: http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com or learn about management training at https://boldnewdirections.com . Or stay tuned to read part 4 of this Series on Improving Your Management Skills Through Curiosity.   

Adapted from the book entitled Managing From The Inside Out written by Jim Hornickel, edited by Suzanne Guthrie, available at http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com

 

 

Source url :
http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com

Curiosity – A Key Management Skill – Part 2 of 4 Part Series

At Bold New Directions our management training teaches managers to lead with curiosity. Last week we took a look at Part 1 of this series, Increasing Satisfaction in Management & Staff Roles. In this article, part 2 of a 4 part series, we look at how to improve management skills by asking powerful questions which are signposts of curiously.

 

Improve your management skills by asking powerful questions.

In our management training programs we stress the fact that great managers and leaders look at “problems” as opportunities. That takes what we call an attitude of adventure. And adventure translates into curiosity. There is great satisfaction through problem solving.

Albert Einstein said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” So how do you get out of the thinking mode you were in when the challenge started? Curiosity!

A huge skill set allied with curiosity is asking powerful questions. When you ask open-ended questions of people, they are more likely to reveal important information that you, the manager, need.

To ask powerful questions, start your sentences with “What…” or “How…” for best results. Examples: “What has guided your thought process?” “How did you go about selecting that strategy?” Instead of a direct question, you can also use requests like, “Tell me more…” or “Help me to understand…”

Another key in satisfying your curiosity with people through questions is to use a warm tone of voice. How different do you think the response would be if you were to use a “demanding” tone?

When we know that someone sincerely and respectfully wants to hear what we have to say and to learn from us, we feel drawn to open up and give real and honest answers.

For More Information About Growing Your Management Skills

For more resources about management skills training, managing change, or building team effectiveness, visit our website at: http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com or learn about management training at https://boldnewdirections.com . Or stay tuned to read parts 3 & 4 of this Series on Improving Your Management Skills Through Curiosity

 

 

Adapted from the book entitled Managing From The Inside Out written by Jim Hornickel, edited by Suzanne Guthrie, available at http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com

 

 

Source url :
http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com

Curiosity As a Key Management Skill – Part 1 of 4 Part Series

At Bold New Directions our management training teaches managers to lead with curiosity. If you’re like most managers and leaders you’ve progressed to where you are, in part, because you have a strong sense of curiosity. You’re curious about how to solve problems, how to motivate your staff, how to improve operations and productivity. Many leaders, however, don’t think of their innate curiosity as a tool to help them lead. In our management training programs we focus on the positive effects of curiosity, and how managers can consciously use their genuine curiosity to improve their management skills.

 

As a manager, curiosity benefits you in several ways. Over the course of the next few weeks we will explore Curiosity in this 4 Part Series.  Curiosity puts wonder into our lives. Eagerness, inquiring mind, inquisitiveness, interest, investigation, questioning, searching, thirst for knowledge: all common names for curiosity.  By being curious life becomes an adventure. Being curious about the old and familiar can reveal exciting, new perspectives; and wondering what’s around the corner or beyond the bend leads to exploration and discovery.While curiosity makes every aspect of our lives more exciting and vital, in our management training programs we share examples of how curiosity has helped to raise management skills.

 

Karen recently joined a new company as a manager. Not everything had gone smoothly since she started. For one thing, she was not that excited about the team she was leading (nor they about her), and she wondered if there was a way for her to become more consciously engaged with them.

Karen is proud of her management skills; she’s a mindful person and an aware manager She decided to remember back to times in her life when she was excited or engaged. What were the qualities of those interactions that held her interest? As Karen recalled situation after situation from her past, she saw that the most vibrant times were when she was deeply curious. Instead of approaching someone or something with preconceived opinions, she’d been open to discovering with fresh eyes, a fresh mind, and a fresh heart.

After coming to the conclusion that curiosity would be a great ally for harmoniously working with her team members, Karen made a commitment to interact and relate to them – not from a state of dislike or judgment – but rather with healthy curiosity. She wondered what she would learn about her team and about herself.

And she was deeply curious about what she could learn from her staff about the operations she was there to manage – What was going well and why? Where were the problems and what ideas did her team members have for solutions? She realized that her spirit of curiosity could lead to her to feeling excited about the challenges of her work and to feeling engaged with her team. It was time to start asking questions.

 

For More Information About Growing Your Management Skills

For more resources about management skills training, managing change, or building team effectiveness, visit our website at: http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com or learn about management training at https://boldnewdirections.com . Or stay tuned to read parts 2 & 3 & 4 of this Series on Improving Your Management Skills through Curiosity.   

Adapted from the book entitled Managing From The Inside Out written by Jim Hornickel, edited by Suzanne Guthrie, available at http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com

 

 

 

 

Source url :
http://www.managementtraininginstitute.com