You have heard the saying by Heraclitus: “The only thing that is constant is change”. This is so true. What I am learning is the power of curiosity makes change much more enjoyable.
At this phase in my life I have become much more reflective and introspective. As a parent of two teenagers and a director at Spectrum Health I also need to be forward looking and energetic.
Our household in a great period of change; we have child learning to drive and has her first job and another child entering her first year of college, moving out on her own. The juxtaposition of reflective and introspective AND forward looking and energetic is a tough balancing act some days. My journey at home is much like my journey at Spectrum Health.
I carry these two points of view on my career journey at Spectrum Health. Having been on the journey here for almost 18 years and my overall career journey for MUCH longer. As a result, I have the benefit of having traveled the journey that created our current reality, as well as, the opportunity and privilege to influence our future reality.
My biggest lesson and a skill I am still honing at home and work is that of curiosity. It is easy as an “older” parent and a person in the last decade of my career to fall on the side of judgement when presented with new ideas. I have found myself thinking, “If my children would only listen to my experience, they won’t have to make the same mistakes I have made.” Or at work saying “We tried that and it did not work.” Both these statements are out of the lens of judgement and not curiosity.
What I am learning is that if I stay curious in conversations it leads to a better and more powerful result. For example, someone comes to me with an idea, the simple phrase “Tell me more about that.” can lead to a wonderful and rich conversation and is much more respectful of the people I interact with each day both personally and professionally.
I am still practicing and sometimes I slip into judgement, however, I will say the reward of staying curious is immeasurable. When navigating through change the power of curiosity makes the journey enriching.
