Curiosity is not a luxury. It’s an absolute necessity.

Several weeks ago, I was in Malawi, in southeastern Africa—my second visit there in as many years. I was there as part of a group and a partner from Hope International, alongside several business leaders I recruited to advise and mentor entrepreneurs in the Malawi area. Like every visit, it was richly rewarding. We shared experiences, business insights and practical guidance. I feel incredibly grateful to be in a position to help impart even just a bit of advice and guidance.

Since returning, one observation has stayed with me. It wasn’t one specific village, safari excursion, discussion or particular place. It wasn’t the conversations about capital, technology, infrastructure or resources. It was something much more powerful: the relentless curiosity of the people I met.  

Everywhere I went, I encountered people eager to learn, motivated to improve and hungry to understand what is possible.  

In many cases, that openness isn’t simply an advantage, like it is for most of us. It can be the difference between success and failure. Between opportunity and hardship. Between building a better life for them and their families. For the entrepreneurs I met, curiosity is not a luxury. It’s an absolute necessity.

The experience made me reflect on an uncomfortable question we don’t ask often enough: What drives our own willingness to learn?

Growth lives on the other side of uncertainty

For many of us, our circumstances allow us to be comfortable. That comfort that comes from success can quietly become barriers to growth. It shouldn’t take something as dramatic as the difference between opportunity and hardship to stay curious and willing to learn.

And comfort, while not inherently bad, reduces our sense of urgency to seek new perspectives or reconsider what we think we know. At Sikich, I often talk about the importance of getting comfortable being uncomfortable because growth lives on the other side of certainty. The moment we believe we have nothing to learn is the moment we stop growing.

Be careful what we choose

The entrepreneurs I met in Malawi reminded me of a truth that is easy to forget: learning is a choice, it’s something we choose to do, or not. It’s a choice to listen, to remain humble, to challenge what we think we know, and to remain open to possibilities that may completely change our perspective.  

The world changes too quickly for any of us to have all the answers. No individual, no leader, and no organization has a monopoly on great ideas. Our ability to adapt, grow and create impact will increasingly depend on our willingness to learn. That willingness begins with curiosity.

Lifelong students

As I write this, our kids are headed back to school, and I’m reminded that education was never intended to end with graduation. The best leaders remain students for life. My time in Malawi reminded me that our future will not be defined by what we already know. It will be defined by our willingness to keep learning. I hope we all choose curiosity and we all stay coachable.

And most of all, I hope we never lose the humility to recognize that our greatest opportunities for growth may come from the people and places we least expect.