Don’t Be the Smartest Person in the Room—Be the Most Curious

Real leadership begins where certainty ends

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Daniel was one of the smartest people in the building—strategic, sharp, and relentlessly driven. His numbers spoke for themselves. His bosses loved him. But his team? Not so much.

By the time I got the call, his unit was bleeding talent. One exec described working for him as “a never-ending trip to the principal’s office.” Daniel didn’t just want to be right—he needed to be right. In every meeting. On every decision. At any cost.

And the cost was steep: trust eroded, ideas withered, and collaboration stalled. His intelligence wasn’t the issue—it was his mindset.

In Daniel’s world, being the smartest person in the room meant defending his expertise and controlling the narrative. But real leadership isn’t about having the most answers. It’s about creating space for the best questions.

What Daniel needed wasn’t more brilliance. It was more curiosity.

The Trap of the Certainty Mindset

Many high achievers climb the ladder by being right—often faster, louder, and more confidently than everyone else. That behavior gets rewarded early. But at the executive level, it starts to backfire.

The need to appear competent can quietly morph into the need to prove competence, which shifts leaders into what I call the Certainty Mindset—the belief that strength means having the answers, controlling the conversation, and defending your position. It’s a mindset rooted in fear: fear of looking weak, being wrong, or losing status.

But leadership isn’t a game of intellectual dominance. It’s a practice of continuous learning. And that requires a very different orientation: curiosity.

Curiosity Is Not a Soft Skill. It’s a Strategic One.

We don’t usually think of curiosity as a power skill. But it is—especially at the top.

Curiosity opens the door to better decisions, more inclusive dialogue, and more resilient teams. It’s what allows leaders to see blind spots, surface dissent, and adapt in real time. It builds psychological safety. It invites innovation. And it models humility—without sacrificing authority.

In my work with executives, the ones who make the biggest leaps aren’t the ones who double down on what they know. They’re the ones willing to ask: What am I not seeing? What might they know that I don’t?

That’s not weakness. That’s leadership.

But it’s easy to assume we’re already doing it—especially at senior levels. The truth is, most leaders I coach drift into a Certainty Mindset without realizing it.

Signs You’re Leading with Certainty Instead of Curiosity

Most executives don’t intend to shut down dialogue—they just don’t realize they’re doing it.

Here are some telltale signs you might be leading from a Certainty Mindset:

• You interrupt or redirect when someone challenges your thinking.

  Not because you’re rude—but because you’re already forming your counterpoint before they’ve finished.
  

• You rely on a few trusted voices—and tune out the rest.

  Familiarity feels efficient. But it also narrows your field of view.
  

• You seek feedback, but only from people who agree with your approach.

  You’re not asking to learn—you’re asking to be reassured.
  

• You treat your mistakes as threats to your credibility.

  So you defend, downplay, or spin. And your team learns to stay silent.
  

• You feel an urge to weigh in on everything.

  If a meeting ends without your opinion, you worry you’ve lost stature.
  

These habits don’t make you a bad leader. They just make you human. But left unchecked, they stifle the very conditions that allow teams—and leaders—to grow.

Practicing the Curiosity Mindset—What It Looks Like in Action

Curiosity isn’t just a mindset—it’s a set of habits. And like any leadership skill, it’s built through practice.

Here’s what curiosity in action looks like:

• You ask more than you assert.

  “What’s your take on this?” and “What concerns might we be overlooking?” become regular parts of your vocabulary.
  

• You create space for dissent.

  Not just by saying “all voices are welcome,” but by explicitly inviting views that differ from yours—and honoring the people who speak up.
  

• You admit when you don’t know.

  And instead of apologizing, you use it as a launchpad: “That’s not my area of expertise—what do you see that I might be missing?”
  

• You reward learning, not just outcomes.

  You praise the process of insight, not just the performance of certainty.
  

• You stay open when challenged.

  Rather than rushing to defend, you pause and ask, “Say more about that.”
  

These aren’t soft moves. They’re sophisticated leadership moves. Because they signal to your team that what matters most isn’t proving you’re right—but building something better, together.

Curiosity Creates Psychological Safety—and Performance

I recently shared these ideas with a group of senior executives—mostly CEOs. One in particular leaned in as we discussed how dominant leaders often unwittingly train their teams to comply instead of contribute. Even when they think they’re being clear and collaborative, the message that often lands is: “Don’t challenge me. Just execute.”

This CEO decided to try something different: he explicitly invited his team to push back. At first, it didn’t work. His team was conditioned to say yes. To avoid friction. To give the boss what he wanted.

So he doubled down—not with pressure, but with patience. He kept asking for alternate views. He listened without reacting. And slowly, something shifted. His team began to trust that their input was wanted, not dismissed.

He later told me this shift unlocked a wave of innovation in his company. “That one insight,” he said, “has been gold for us.”

That’s the real power of curiosity. It’s not just a mindset. It’s a cultural multiplier.

Marrying Expertise with Curiosity

Let’s be clear: I’m not suggesting that leaders relinquish their expertise. You’ve worked hard to develop it. You’ve earned your domain knowledge.

The problem isn’t expertise—it’s certainty. When expertise gets married to certainty, it calcifies. It narrows the frame. It signals to your team that the book is already written.

But when you pair expertise with curiosity, something powerful happens. You begin exploring the edges of what you know. You invite others to fill in what you might be missing. You allow new data, dissenting views, and fresh thinking to inform your next move.

Some facts are indisputable. But most leadership work lives in the gray—in the complex, adaptive spaces where learning matters more than knowing. That’s where curiosity earns its keep.

I’ve coached 20 or 30 executives at Amazon over the years, and I’ve come to know their leadership principles well. One of the most quoted is: “Are Right, A Lot.”

At first glance, it seems to celebrate certainty. And that’s how most executives interpret it. In fact, nearly all the Amazon leaders I’ve worked with can quote the first part of the principle without blinking. But almost none are familiar with the second part:

“They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.”

When I read that back to them, it often lands as a surprise—sometimes even a bit of a jolt. The idea of working to disconfirm your beliefs doesn’t always match the internal culture, which heavily rewards decisiveness, accuracy, and confidence.

That same dynamic plays out across much of corporate America: we praise curiosity in theory, but reward certainty in practice. That’s why curiosity isn’t just a mindset shift—it’s a countercultural act. And it requires awareness, intention, and skill.

A Challenge to Leaders: Curiosity as Your Next Competitive Advantage

If you’re a senior leader, you’ve already proven your intelligence. That’s not in question.

The real question is: Are you still learning?

Or have you subtly slipped into performing certainty—rewarding yourself (and others) for being right, decisive, in control?

In today’s environment—defined by volatility, complexity, and constant change—your edge won’t come from knowing more. It will come from modeling curiosity. From asking better questions. From creating the kind of space where truth can emerge, even when it’s inconvenient.

So here’s the challenge:

In your next meeting, say less. Ask more.

Listen longer. Invite contradiction.

And the next time someone disagrees with you, resist the reflex to defend—and get curious instead.

You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room.

You just have to be the most curious.

That’s what real leadership looks like now.