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Authors, Ask Don’t Judge: Getting Curious
18 of 28 big ideas from the world of coaching to grow your author business
The eighteenth in a 28-part series on 28 big ideas from coaching for authors to coach themselves, adapted from my book, The Coach Within.
“Be curious, not judgmental.”
— Walt Whitman
“We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
— Walt Disney Company
Getting curious serves a dual role for a coach. First, in its childlike, unassuming posture, it’s a potent means to explore the unknown and unlock the undiscovered with a client. Secondly, curiosity provides a template for how to be with a client — authentic, interested, and present rather than judgmental. A coach asks open-ended questions (big idea #5) not to interrogate, correct, or analyze, but to provoke a client’s own wisdom and awareness.
Do the same for yourself. Cultivate a generous attitude of wonder, genuine interest, and appreciation for what’s happening under the surface. Skip the harsh, berating questions, as well as the pithy, easy ones. Engage your curiosity and use provocative, significant probing to learn about yourself and your author business…
