Key Takeaways

• Curiosity reduces the pressure to have all the answers and helps leaders shift from performance mode to partnership with their teams.
  
• A curiosity-first mindset replaces rigid certainty with adaptive thinking, opening the door to better solutions and stronger relationships.
  
• Leaders who ask more questions create psychological safety, which encourages input, strengthens trust, and improves outcomes.
  
• The most effective leadership mindset focuses on learning, not being right, allowing managers to navigate uncertainty with more confidence.
  
• Curiosity becomes a leadership advantage by helping teams think clearly, participate actively, and move through challenges with greater alignment.

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For years, Tyler Chisholm carried the weight of having all the answers—a burden that nearly crushed him. In his first job as a senior manager, each question felt like a trap, and he either faked an answer or hid behind jargon to conceal his uncertainty. But every performance-only move added stress and kept his team at arm’s length. He eventually discovered that leadership isn’t about being right 100% of the time; it’s about staying curious.

Like many Canadian leaders, he is straight-talking and doesn’t do fluff. Drawing on his own leadership journey and the themes of Curious as Hell, this piece maps a practical path from rigid certainty to a true leadership and growth mindset. The focus is on grounded leadership moments and research-backed insights—not feel-good platitudes. It shows how adopting a leadership mindset rooted in questions can reduce stress and earn a team’s trust, with better results all around.

The Pressure To Have All The Answers

Senior managers often hear it from day one: you’re supposed to know everything. The pressure comes from above—bosses expecting solutions—and from within, driven by the fear of looking incompetent. It can feel like performing a play on repeat, delivering smooth answers in every scene, even though real life isn’t scripted. Pretending to be infallible only wears everyone out.

Real relief came when he stopped pretending. Gallup research shows that employees who feel supported by their managers are about 70% less likely to burn out. That insight reinforced what experience had already taught him: sharing doubts and listening is a far better stress-reliever than wearing a “know-it-all” mask. Once he began saying, “I don’t have all the answers yet—what do you think?” the tension eased, and creative problem-solving took over.

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Pretending to be infallible only wears everyone out.

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When Certainty Stifles Growth

A false sense of certainty can put the brakes on growth. He learned this the hard way when he insisted on a familiar plan and ignored his team’s questions. The team fell behind because he refused to adapt. The experience revealed that certainty—far from being safe—can blind leaders to better ideas. Once uncertainty was acknowledged and the team pivoted, solutions emerged that had previously been invisible.

Evidence supports this shift. A recent SAP study found that very curious large companies achieved around 10.7% annual revenue growth—nearly double the 6% of less-curious peers. For a typical large business, that additional curiosity translated into roughly $2.5 million in extra annual turnover. Clinging to “we’ve always done it this way” may feel comfortable, but curiosity drives real growth. Leaders who insist on having all the answers risk leaving value on the table, while those who embrace questions unlock innovation.

From Always Right To Always Learning

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The shift came when errors stopped being treated as threats and instead became questions. When something went wrong, blame was replaced with inquiry: “What did we miss?” That simple change made a profound difference. The team felt safe speaking up and suggesting ideas instead of hiding mistakes. What followed was a shift from second-guessing to collective problem-solving—a small cultural change with a big impact.

This reflects the core of a growth mindset: valuing learning over being perfect. Research by psychologist Carol Dweck shows that teams thrive under leaders who signal that inquiry matters more than always being right. In practice, routines were built where uncertainty became part of the conversation. Project debriefs invited questions like, “What might we be missing?” These habits trained the team to stay curious under pressure rather than cling to old answers. Reflection and questioning became defaults, turning setbacks into lessons and meetings into learning labs.

Leading With Questions

Over time, asking questions replaced delivering answers. Meetings shifted from shutting ideas down to asking, “What patterns do you see here?” or “How might we tackle this differently?” At first, it felt uncomfortable. Then the impact became clear. Engagement increased, and ideas surfaced that would never have emerged otherwise. Leading with questions transformed the dynamic—from being the lone answer-holder to acting as a coach guiding the team. The load lightened as problems became shared missions rather than solo burdens.

Questions began answering questions. When someone asked, “Do you need this report by Friday?” the response became, “How urgent is it? What would change if we had it by Monday instead?” These small shifts encouraged deeper thinking before action. They signaled trust in the team’s judgment and reinforced shared ownership. Over time, the team stopped waiting for answers and started finding them. Curiosity became contagious, and conversations shifted from “why not” to “what if.”

Curiosity Is Your Leadership Edge

Curiosity isn’t a soft, feel-good add-on—it’s a sharp leadership strategy. When the burden of certainty is replaced with a stream of “what ifs,” teams step up. A recent survey shows that employees in highly curious companies are almost twice as likely to feel satisfied (81% vs. 44%) and engaged (83% vs. 42%) at work compared to those in less-curious organizations. People who feel heard and involved don’t just feel better—they stay longer and solve problems instead of enduring them.

So what does a leadership mindset that actually works look like? It starts by letting go of the myth of being all-knowing. It embraces questions: “Why are we doing it this way? What else could we try? How would someone with a fresh perspective approach this?” When that shift happened, stress eased as trust grew. Admitting “I don’t know yet—let’s find out” didn’t weaken leadership—it strengthened it. Over time, curiosity became a competitive edge, lifting weight instead of adding it.

Across industries, the pattern is clear. Leaders who foster curiosity drive better outcomes. In a fast-changing world, asking “what’s next?” with genuine interest beats pretending there’s a fixed map. Leading with questions taps into collective intelligence and turns uncertainty into an ally. That is the real leadership edge curiosity provides—measurable value for teams, not a feel-good platitude.

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Curiosity becomes the steady through-line that keeps teams focused, grounded, and connected.

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Leading Forward With Curiosity

Bringing curiosity into daily leadership isn’t theoretical. It’s the exact approach taught in Curious as Hell, grounded in real stories and hands-on exercises. One example encourages leaders to write down three “silly” questions they were afraid to ask in a recent meeting, then practice asking one aloud. Leaders who tried it reported meetings shifting from lectures to dialogue. These are practical tools, refined over decades of leadership experience.

As CEO of clearmotive and a leadership coach, he continues to practice what he teaches. Through his work and on tylerchisholm.com, he shares techniques like “hypothesis huddles” and maintaining a “question journal”—concrete habits, not hype. Leaders who adopt them see real change: trust increases, problems get solved faster, and teams operate with greater independence. Curiosity isn’t fluff—it’s a method for results. And for leaders ready to trade certainty for curiosity, there has never been a better time to see the difference it makes.