1650 – Creating a Culture of Curiosity: How Leaders Can Foster a Safe Environment for Questions with CuriosityBased’s Dr. Julie Pham

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the CEO & Chief Executive Officer of CuriosityBased, Julie Pham.

Dr. Julie Pham is a force to be reckoned with. Her mission is to help people practice curiosity in the workplace. She believes there is often a gap between what leaders say they value, such as curiosity, and what individual contributors experience.

Curiosity, according to Julie, is a practice. It's about asking questions and feeling safe to do so. She cited a study that found 70% of individual contributors think there are barriers to asking questions at work. This can hinder communication and learning, which are vital for any organization's growth and success.

One of the reasons people hesitate to ask questions is the fear of looking incompetent or dumb. Julie acknowledges this fear but also points out that asking questions can reveal that one wasn't listening or their team didn't adequately prepare them.

However, she notes that some people consider asking questions passive and prefer to state opinions instead. To counter this, Julie suggests that leaders can model curiosity by admitting when they don't know something and encouraging others to ask questions. 

She recommends leaders ask questions themselves, create a safe environment for questions, and give everyone a chance to contribute in meetings.

Julie shares her litmus test for language – if her refugee parents with limited English cannot understand the words being used, then it is necessary to reconsider the language. She believes that communication should not be about intellectual bullying but rather about being able to communicate with one another.

Key Points from the Episode:

• Importance of curiosity in the workplace
• Gap between leaders' values and individual contributors' experiences
• Definition of curiosity as a practice and the importance of asking questions
• Barriers to asking questions at work
• Fear of looking incompetent or dumb as a reason for hesitating to ask questions
• Leaders modeling curiosity and creating a safe environment for questions
• Using plain language and clear communication for effective and inclusive conversations
• Curiosity-based inclusion and the importance of asking questions for learning about others and oneself
• Challenging nature of practicing curiosity and the importance of grace and listening

About Dr. Julie Pham:

Dr. Julie Pham is a best selling author, a charismatic, dynamic public speaker, and an award-winning researcher and entrepreneur. Her talks are based on her nontraditional career path as well as her original research and years of community building. Her speeches have been characterized as “surprising”, “interactive,” and “thought-provoking.” She engages audiences to reframe popularly held beliefs and guides them to discuss and practice in real time. 

Dr. Julie Pham was born in Saigon, and escaped with her family as boat people to the U.S. to Seattle. She earned her PhD in history at Cambridge University as a Gates Cambridge Scholar and she graduated magna cum laude from UC Berkeley as a Haas Scholar. 

She then got her “real life MBA” by returning to Seattle to help lead her family’s Vietnamese newspaper through the 2008-2010 recession. She left the newspaper to work in the tech industry and then pivoted to start her company, CuriosityBased, in the middle of the pandemic.

About CuriosityBased: 

CuriosityBased is a dedicated consulting practice that empowers individuals to harness the potential of their curiosity through interactive workshops and skilled facilitation. Specializing in enhancing communication, collaboration, and inclusivity, CuriosityBased fosters an environment where curiosity thrives. 

The practice develops vital interpersonal skills by guiding participants to embrace their curiosity. Through thoughtfully designed workshops and expert facilitation, CuriosityBased cultivates a culture of open-minded exploration, fostering better understanding, teamwork, and a more comprehensive sense of belonging.

Tweetable Moments:

02:40-  “I don't want to look dumb, I don't want to look incompetent, so I don't want to ask that question in front of my manager, my superior, or my coworkers, my team members. You know, they're going to think I'm a dummy.”

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Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Want to learn more? Check out CuriosityBased website at

https://curiositybased.com/

Check out CuriosityBased on LinkedIn at

https://www.linkedin.com/company/curiositybased/

Check out CuriosityBased on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/curiositybased

Check out CuriosityBased on Instagram at

https://www.instagram.com/curiositybased/

Check out CuriosityBased on TikTok at

https://www.tiktok.com/@curiositybased

Check out Dr. Julie Pham on LinkedIn at 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliepham2/

Check out Dr. Julie Pham on Instagram at 

https://www.instagram.com/juliephamphd/

Check out Dr. Julie Pham on Twitter at 

twitter.com/julesiepham

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