Why Curiosity, Insecurity Make Better Leaders

There are two traits that have stayed with me through every stage of my professional life. They sound like unlikely allies — curiosity and insecurity. One pushes you to explore. The other keeps you honest. Together, they have been my greatest teachers.

And I have seen this trait in most leaders who have reinvented themselves and have sustained the fast changing, and disruptive ecosystems.

Curiosity is celebrated easily. It feels positive, creative, and open. Insecurity is harder to admit. It carries a shadow of doubt. Yet when channelled wisely, insecurity sharpens curiosity. It stops it from becoming mere wandering. It turns curiosity into a search for competence, not novelty for its own sake.

When I recently asked a successful industrialist on what drives him, this is what he said: "In the early years of my career, I discovered that curiosity helped me ask questions others were afraid to. Insecurity helped me listen carefully to the answers. I read more, observed more, and sought feedback even when it was uncomfortable."

For him, the mix of curiosity and insecurity became a quiet engine. It was what made him stay longer with problems that others rushed past. A common trait with many successful leaders.

Most professionals are told to "be confident". Confidence is useful, but it can also become complacency. A touch of insecurity keeps you alert to what you do not know. It reminds you that your learning is never complete. I have seen leaders whose confidence has hardened into conviction. They stop asking questions, because they fear looking uncertain. That is when decline begins.

Curiosity without insecurity can drift into arrogance — the kind that explores but never reflects. Insecurity without curiosity can sink into self-doubt — the kind that paralyses action. But when the two are a good combination together, they produce growth. The curious mind seeks. The combination builds awareness, humility, and stamina.

In a world that changes as rapidly as ours, both qualities have new urgency. Technology is rewriting jobs. Markets are shifting faster than strategies can adapt. Artificial intelligence is turning expertise into a moving target. In such a landscape, curiosity is not a luxury. It is survival. And insecurity, instead of being a weakness, becomes a radar — a signal that tells you when your knowledge is out of date.

What I find in many leaders I mentor is a split. They are endlessly curious, but also anxious about not knowing enough. I tell them that anxiety itself is not the enemy. It is evidence of awareness. What matters is how you respond to it. If you let insecurity shrink you, it becomes fear. If you use it to deepen your curiosity, it becomes a drive.

Every meaningful career has phases of discomfort. The discomfort of being new. The discomfort of being stretched. The discomfort of not having answers. Too often, we treat this as a personal flaw rather than a professional rite of passage. Yet discomfort is where growth hides. The uneasy questions — Am I good enough? Am I missing something? — are the ones that push us to learn faster and work harder.

In organisations, we tend to reward confidence over curiosity. We promote those who sound sure rather than those who keep exploring. Over time, this breeds leaders who are performative, not thoughtful. The healthiest cultures are those where leaders admit what they do not know, and where questions are not seen as rebellion. I have always admired those who can say, "I don’t know — but let’s find out together." It takes courage to stay curious in public.

There is also a deeper, human dimension to this pairing. Curiosity connects you to the world. Insecurity connects you to yourself. Together, they create empathy. When you are curious, you look outward and see patterns. When you are insecure, you remember what it feels like to be uncertain. That humility makes you a better leader, a better colleague, and a better learner.

I have found that some of the best innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders I have met share this duality. They are never fully satisfied with their own knowledge. Their curiosity is restless, their insecurity productive. It keeps them revising, rethinking, relearning. They do not chase certainty. They chase clarity. They understand that the moment you think you know it all, the world moves past you.

In the Indian corporate context, this mindset is still under-valued. We celebrate the decisive leader, the flawless strategist, the polished expert. But the next generation of leadership will need something else — the courage to stay curious and the humility to stay a little insecure. Both are antidotes to stagnation. Both make organisations learn faster. Both build leaders who adapt instead of defend.

Insecurity also keeps success in perspective. It reminds you that relevance is temporary, and that leadership is not a permanent state but a borrowed privilege. When I have felt too comfortable, it is often insecurity that has whispered, "You can do better." Curiosity then shows me how. Together, they have kept me restless in the best sense — never entirely satisfied, always wanting to learn one more thing.

Success is not about outgrowing your insecurity, but about befriending it. The goal is not to silence that inner voice of doubt, but to listen to it with curiosity. Ask it what it is teaching you. Ask what you need to learn next. That is how growth stays alive.

Curiosity and insecurity will not make you perfect. But they will keep you alive to possibility. They will keep you moving, questioning, adapting. And in a world that never stops changing, that might be the most powerful combination of all.

Perhaps we need to reframe the language we use in our careers. Instead of asking "How can I be confident?" we might ask "How can I stay curious, and how can I let my insecurity guide me to what I must learn next?" That mindset, more than any title or skill, keeps a professional relevant across decades.