Better Leadership Starts With Curiosity: 5 Must-Read Books

What if the key to better leadership isn’t charisma and executive presence — but being curious? Through years of helping people learn the skills of storytelling and story facilitation, I became fascinated by this question. I’ve seen that when leaders lean into curiosity, something remarkable happens: trust deepens, communication opens up, blind spots become visible and innovation flourishes. The best part about curiosity is that it’s a mindset that anyone can access.

Curiosity Helps People Embrace Change

When my client Victoria became VP of sales at a tech company, she wanted to introduce herself, but she was also curious about the 98 sales directors, account managers and sales support she would be leading. Before her first virtual meeting, she sent a survey built on my crazy good questions and invited her new team to share stories about themselves. She learned that one person rebuilt antique bicycles, another serves on their city council, and more than one person has run a marathon, multiple times!

Her curiosity was contagious. At the meeting, where she shared these anonymous stories, team members became curious about each other. The organizational culture changed. More stories and questions were shared offline after the meeting and people reported feeling seen and understood in a new way. Victoria’s leadership was met warmly. People asked questions instead of making assumptions about why she was changing systems that had been in place for years. Change is always hard, especially on a large team, but curiosity predisposes people toward welcoming the new.

In my book Winning Without Persuading: A New Framework for Leading with Curiosity and Story Discovery, I share more stories like this and provide frameworks for how leaders can practice curiosity. Like any muscle, curiosity weakens without regular exercise, so I’ve put together this list of five books to help leaders keep their curiosity muscle strong.

5 Must-Read Books On Curiosity For Leaders

Lost In Curiosity by Roberta Kwok

Summary: Award-winning science writer Roberta Kwok chronicles the work of early career scientists in pursuit of truth. From the rainforests of Borneo and the glaciers of Greenland to the research labs of graduate students, she takes readers on the actual journey of discovery full of missteps, frustrations, and hope.

When To Read This Book On Curiosity: When you are feeling frustrated by the process.

In this riveting book, Kwok reveals just how messy and circuitous the process of discovery can be. For leaders, this is a great reminder that challenges and setbacks are part of the process. When teams are trying to innovate, build trust, think creatively, or understand their clients more fully, the road is not necessarily a straight path. This book shares stories of scientists and leaders who keep their eye on the goal despite all manner of setbacks and challenges.

Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything by Philip Ball

Summary:  Did you know curiosity and asking questions used to be considered a vice? Philip Ball shares the story of how curiosity became a virtue during the advent of modern science, then he traces curiosity to modern times and how it’s functioning in science today, and also how it’s being transformed by consumerism.

When To Read This Book On Curiosity:  When there are power struggles. Whenever curiosity is not encouraged, we’re at risk of being controlled or attempting to control others. There’s a reason why the flourishing of curiosity coincided with the advent of modern science. Curiosity makes us ask questions, which may seem like a leader or an accepted truth is being undermined. Instead of fearing questions, it’s important for leaders to encourage questions and to ask questions themselves.

Curiosity (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series) by Harvard Business Review

Summary: “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” This Albert Einstein quote helps frame the discussion on the importance of curiosity in the essay by chief innovation officer of ManpowerGroup, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. HBR’s collection of essays on curiosity by leadership experts help unlock the power of curiosity in the workplace.

When to read this book: When you need to make the case for curiosity to your organization. Curiosity can be dismissed as a “soft skill” or a distraction from results. These essays gather research and expert perspectives that can help you show colleagues, executives, and boards why empowering curious thinking on a team will lead to better results.

Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World by Scott Shigeoka

Summary: This book takes on curiosity in the social and interpersonal context, demonstrating how curiosity can help us bridge divisions, loneliness and help us learn and connect with the people around us. Shigeoka, a speaker and educator on belonging and curiosity, offers practical ways to move from judgment to genuine interest in others and shows that curiosity is a skill anyone can build.

When to read this book: When you’re leading people who are different from you. Whether you’re managing across cultures, locations, generations, or functions, this is a good moment to replace assumptions with real questions.

Book of Questions by Pablo Neruda (Author), Illustrated by Paloma Valdivia

Summary: A lyrical and beautifully illustrated poem by the famous Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, this book takes us on an illogical journey into wonder and contemplation with incredible illustrations by Paloma Valdivia The poem is a series of unanswerable questions like:  “How many questions does a cat have? / Do tears not yet spilled wait in small lakes? // Or are they invisible rivers that run toward sadness?”

When to read this book: When you need to come at a problem or challenge with a new perspective. Poetry can help us approach things from a new angle. Innovation can occur in surprising ways when we are able to hold lightly to what we know to be true. Scientists for example were only able to understand quantum mechanics when they let go of classical physics, which stated that something was either a solid particle, like a desk, or a wave, like ripples in a lake, but never both. Then experiments showed that light and matter can behave as both. Progress came when scientists stopped trying to make the data fit their assumptions. Because of this new way of looking at the world, scientists were able to invent lasers, semiconductors, and MRI machines, etc.

Why Curiosity Matters For Your Leadership

Curiosity opens doors and creates opportunities to connect and learn from one another. Just as Victoria, mentioned above, started her new leadership role with a posture of curiosity, she changed how 98 people experienced a major organizational change. You can unlock curiosity with a simple open-ended question asked at the right moment. Story discovery like this is at the heart of Winning Without Persuading: the leaders who earn the most trust aren’t the ones with the best argument, but the ones who are willing to ask, listen, and let the answer surprise them.

Each of the books here offer a different avenue into curiosity. Whether you’re frustrated by a messy process, caught in a power struggle or difficult relationship, or stuck on a problem that won’t budge, these books can help you gain the perspective you need to move forward.

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