The C² Factor for Leadership How the Alchemy of Curiosity and Courage Helps Leaders Become Champions and Lead Meaningful Lives

The C² Factor for Leadership

Joanne Boyd Irving, Ph.D.

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION

1. THE MYTHS YOU MAY BELIEVE ABOUT CURIOSITY AND COURAGE THAT CAN LEAD YOU ASTRAY

Four Myths About Curiosity That Muddle Your Understanding

Myth 1: You either are or are not curious

Myth 2: We should emulate three-year-olds

Myth 3: School is a wet blanket

Myth 4: Curiosity is a waste of time

Four Myths About Courage That Defeat Your Attitude

Myth 1: Courage is the same as fearlessness

Myth 2: You either are or you are not courageous

Myth 3: Courage is always recognized

Myth 4: Courage can’t be learned

2. THE ALCHEMY OF CURIOSITY AND COURAGE

1. Admitting you don’t know
2. Encountering unpleasant discoveries

1. Curiosity is the bravery elixir
2. Using the curiosity to persevere

1. The Robotic Leader: Neither curious nor courageous
2. The Academic Leader: Lots of curiosity, little courage
3. The Reckless Leader: All Courage, No Curiosity

1. The tackling terror in the supply chain
2. Postscript: The C2 Factor does not stand alone
3. Where are you and where do you want to go?

1. THE C2 FACTOR BEGINS AT HOME: START WITH YOU

1. Meditation, mindfulness and the courage to be bored
2. Feelings? What feelings?
3. Using the beginner’s mind and embracing ambiguity

1. Heuristics and cognitive biases
2. Fighting the Dunning-Kruger effect
3. Extending self-awareness beyond 15 minutes

1. Inspiring competence
2. Opening to where you haven’t been, and what you haven’t done
3. The antidote to boredom and a key to happiness

1. PEOPLE WHO NEED PEOPLE: THE ALCHEMY OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE C² FACTOR

1. Empathy without curiosity is merely projection
2. Newness + the C2 Factor = the honeymoon
3. Networking without the C2 Factor doesn’t work

1. They aren’t cars; they’re gardens
2. Weeding your garden
3. Tending someone else’s garden

1. We are all foreigners
2. Another damn growth opportunity
3. Neither a bully nor a doormat

1. HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS AND CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING WITH THE C2 FACTOR

1. Engaging the C2 Factor
2. Wait…..what’s the problem?
3. Beautiful questions

1. Attitude is everything

1. Silence is golden, if we can tolerate it
2. Stupid questions

1. Scapegoats
2. Eccentrics and other difficult people

1. Break the adage
2. Practice, practice, practice

1. CHAMPION LEADERSHIP WITH THE C2 FACTOR

1. The C2 Leader Diagnostic
2. Champion leaders

1. Too busy
2. Too expert
3. Too fast

1. Anticipate
2. Challenge
3. Decide
4. Interpret, align and learn
5. The strategy landscape

1. ENSURING PROSPERITY WITH A C2 FACTOR CULTURE

1. Too successful
2. Too standardized
3. Too focused

1. Hiring
2. Enabling
3. Rewarding
4. Modeling, mentoring, and sponsoring

1. THE ASTOUNDING POTENTIAL OF OMNIPRESENT C2

1. Prosocial organizations
2. Not your father’s Rotary

1. Social entrepreneurs need the C2 Factor

Biography

Joanne Irving, PhD, specializes in working with owners and CEOs of mid-size companies and senior executives at large organizations. She has worked in the Washington D.C. area and across the United States for over three decades, helping influential and accomplished leaders improve professional and business outcomes, organizational performance, and the quality of life for themselves and those around them.

Because of her finely-honed understanding of individuals’ motivations, emotions, and behaviors as well as team dynamics and organizational contexts, Dr. Irving has helped leaders in a wide range of organizations through challenges that are pivotal to their businesses and themselves.

When asked to reflect on her decades of work and over 3000 clients, Joanne identified the leaders who were most transformative, most able to seize opportunities, and most caring and wise, and realized that they all had two qualities in common – they are exceptionally curious and courageous. With leaders at Washington based institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Defense Department, and the White House, Fortune 100 companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Pfizer, and a variety of non-profit associations across sectors such as AARP, HRC and the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University, Joanne concluded that these qualities were applicable in a wide variety of leadership contexts.

Joanne graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University; received her PhD in psychology from the University of Maryland; and conducted her internship at Johns Hopkins University Hospital.

The book cover graphic of The C² Factor is a trailer for this profound book. The magical power of leadership is the effective blend of the courage of a lion with the curiosity of a cat.　 This myth-busting book will alter your leadership perspectives and practices by providing cutting edge substance, compelling examples, and insightful tools."　

-- Chip R. Bell, author of Inside Your Customer’s Imagination

 

Packed with nuggets of wisdom from the experiences of champion-level leaders across industries, Dr. Irving demonstrates how champion leaders engage their curiosity and courage to learn from the past, enhance the present and anticipate the future.

-- Marshall Goldsmith, New York Times#1 bestselling author of Triggers, Mojo, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and Thinkers 50 #1 Executive Coach

 

Curiosity and courage are unstoppable forces. In this insightful book, Joanne Irving deftly shows how to enlist them to become a leader fit for the future.

-- Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of WHEN and DRIVE

 

Today's champion leaders learn to work in and through complexity, using curiosity to find the elements in the environment that they can change and then having the courage to do something about it. That is the C² Factor.

-- Jonah Berger, bestselling author of Contagious and The Catalyst

 

If you're a leader -- of a team, department, or organization -- The C² Factor is for you. This accessible and engaging book enables you to see inside the decision-making process of top leaders, so you can hone your own strategic acumen.　

-- Dorie Clark, author of The Long Game and executive education faculty, Duke University Fuqua School of Business　

 

Dr. Joanne Irving is an advisor to Washington DC’s power elite. For years, she’s worked closely with heads of government, the military, and corporations on how to navigate challenges and lead with wisdom and grace. Few people understand, then, what it takes to lead in the real world better than Dr. Irving. If you and your organization are trying to accomplish something of magnitude, her new book The C² Factor is indispensable."

-- Mark Levy, author of Accidental Genius, Levy Innovation: Differentiation for Corporations, Brands, and Thought Leaders

 

This inspiring book illuminates how curiosity and courage can be leveraged by champion leaders across all industries to achieve new levels of creativity and collaboration within their organization, exponentially raising productivity and effective decision-making.

-- Jennifer L. Farris, COO, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University　

 

Through Joanne’s newest work, The C² Factor, Joanne helps companies take performance to even higher levels by exploring how leaders amplify their impact through the use of Courage and Curiosity. oanne has an innate knack at helping companies and their leaders discover how these qualities can separate themselves from the competition.　 　

-- Rick Dudek, SVP Payer and Channel Access, Pfizer

 

A thought-provoking read for leaders at　every level who　want to build healthy thriving organizations and enhance both their personal and professional lives. I am giving　it to our leadership team to read.

-- Beth Monroe, CEO, Justin Bradley, Washington, DC

 

With a great mix of explanations, examples, and exercises, this engaging and energizing book brings a new and interesting focus to curiosity and courage. The C² Factor is applicable to corporate/organizational leadership goals as well as one’s personal life and community involvement. This book exceeded my expectations. It was the sort of page turner that I didn’t expect.

-- Elise Bolda, PhD, former Chair and Associate Professor Emerita Graduate Program in Public Health, Muskie School, USM