Ask most leaders if they are curious at work and they will say ‘yes’ (the correct answer, of course, is ‘what do you mean by curious?’!).
The same is true of everyone else. SurveyMonkey’s 2026 State of Curiosity report found that 95% of the almost 2,000 workers surveyed describe themselves as at least somewhat curious. Only 30% said their workplace strongly rewards it. This is a mistake that organisations need to avoid.
Research suggests that the effort of actually rewarding curiosity is worth it. A 2025 study of hospitality employees linked leaders who display curiosity to higher creative performance in their teams, and to a greater sense of psychological safety. Further research studied 800 working adults in the US and Germany and found that workplace curiosity predicted job satisfaction and innovation, among other outcomes.
AI is the obvious place to be curious right now, and yet in my experience many leaders have been less curious than they think. There is definitely an acceptance that AI is now part of everyday work, yet many are routinely simply handing tasks to the tools, rather than thinking about the true value they can add.
Technology curiosity is easy because it gets measured, so we notice when we have fallen behind. Curiosity surrounding social change - which has a key impact on workplace culture - gets measured less often yet is one of the biggest contributors to change.
Managers who maintain a watching brief on what’s happening in the world (and more specifically the country/region that they are working in most) are the leaders of the future. These are the people that recognise that the respect and integrity of their leadership is determined by how ‘current’ the culture that they’re building is.
What people expect from work and from their managers keeps shifting, which means that attitudes, language, relationships and understanding needs to keep shifting too. It’s the hardest part of being a people manager, but the most rewarding part too.
Every generation demands something different of their leaders, so a couple of ‘curiosity habits’ can help them to stay abreast of what’s new.
Firstly, read the news on the weekend. Not just the bits you enjoy, look deeply at what is happening and how it might affect how work gets done.
Secondly, ask one question a week that you don’t know the answer to, and put it to someone who joined recently or sits further down the organisation. You might be surprised at what you learn.
Thirdly, try the tools you are insisting that others use, to see if the value that you seek is achievable. You can’t ask others to use them, if you don’t know how to use them yourself.
People will always copy what their leaders do, this is why curiosity is key. Never close yourself off to what’s happening around you as it determines your continued relevance in the world of work.
