760: The Kind of Curiosity Leaders Often Miss, with Shannon Minifie

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Nov 24, 2025

In a captivating discussion, Shannon Minifie, CEO of Box of Crayons and learning-development expert, dives into the often-overlooked aspects of curiosity in leadership. She reveals how fear of making mistakes can waste hours in the workweek and highlights the paradox of leaders wanting feedback while struggling to give it. Shannon distinguishes between intellectual and relational curiosity, emphasizing that the latter builds trust. With her seven essential questions, she guides leaders on how to ask effectively and stay curious before jumping to advice.

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INSIGHT

Feedback Fails Without Trust

Leaders report employees want more feedback but also say many can't receive hard feedback.
Shannon argues this mismatch stems from insufficient trust and relationship quality.

INSIGHT

Leaders Want Better Training

Leaders acknowledge a dangerous skills gap but also show eagerness to learn better leadership methods.
New training methods are seen as necessary and satisfying for managers seeking improvement.

INSIGHT

Two Kinds Of Curiosity

Box of Crayons distinguishes intellectual curiosity from relational curiosity.
Intellectual curiosity seeks knowledge; relational curiosity aims to support and connect with others.

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Shannon Minifie: Box of Crayons

Shannon Minifie is the CEO of Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that helps unleash the power of curiosity to create connected and engaged company cultures. They are the organization behind the bestselling book The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier. Shannon and her team recently released a report along with the Harris Poll titled Navigating a Fractured Workplace: How Relational Curiosity increases engagement, trust, and productivity.

Of course, you’ve heard that being curious and coach-like will help in leadership. But sometimes the very thing we think we’re doing well is actually getting in the way. In this conversation, Shannon and I explore the kind of curiosity that leaders often miss.

Key Points

5-6 hours of the average workweek is lost to the fear of making mistakes.
A strong majority of leaders say employees are expressing a desire for more feedback, and a majority also say that people are unable to receive hard feedback.
Relationships are the core of these conflicting messages. Without a relationship of trust, helpful feedback often doesn’t land that way.
Intellectual curiosity helps us learn what we don’t know. Relationship curiosity helps the other person learn what they don’t know.
Ask yourself: what is my goal in asking this question?
Rather than asking a question that starts with a “why,” consider asking a question that starts with a “what.”

The 7 Essential Questions:

What’s on your mind?
And what else?
What’s the real challenge here for you?
What do you want?
How can I help?
If you’re saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?
What was most useful for you?

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Interview Notes

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Related Episodes

These Coaching Questions Get Results, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 237)
How to Ask Better Questions, with David Marquet (episode 454)
The Way to Be More Coach-Like, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 458)

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