Curiosity Over Control: The New Currency of Leadership
“Punch him in the first lineout.”
That was the instruction Russell Earnshaw once received at Bath during the dawn of rugby’s professional era. For him, it was a crystallising moment: control wasn’t leadership — it was theatre. And it produced players who complied but didn’t grow.
Earnshaw, now co-founder of The Magic Academy and one of sport’s most innovative coaching minds, calls control a fantasy. Sport, like business, is simply too complex to script. Every game presents new pictures; every market throws new disruptions. Trying to joystick people through uncertainty doesn’t deliver excellence — it stifles it.
The real differentiator? Curiosity.
Why Control Fails
Despite Bath’s European glory, Earnshaw describes a culture that suffocated talent. Coaches issued commands from the sidelines as if the game could be played with a remote control. Players kept their heads down, did what they were told, and delivered only average rugby.
It’s a familiar picture in business: leaders over-manage projects, punish risk-taking, and create teams that follow process but rarely pioneer new solutions. Control feels safe — but it’s a false safety.
When Curiosity Wins
By contrast, Earnshaw speaks with reverence about his Cambridge days. Under coach Tony Rogers, he experienced an environment built on trust, belonging, and autonomy. Rogers wasn’t a tactical genius. His genius was creating space for players to think, adapt, and be themselves.
The result wasn’t chaos — it was cohesion. That student team didn’t just compete; they beat Western Samoa and launched careers that shaped the game.
Curiosity created ownership. It turned players into problem-solvers, not just task-doers. And it’s the same currency high-performing businesses trade in today.
Lessons for Business Leaders
So how do leaders shift from control to curiosity?
1. Delegate With Discipline
Delegation isn’t abdication. It’s an art. The best leaders resist stepping in too quickly, even if it means allowing small failures — because that’s where learning lives.
2. Turn Telling Into Asking
Earnshaw frames it simply: stop telling, start asking. Replace directives with exploration. What options haven’t we considered? What would success look like if we broke the rules?
3. Engineer Safe-to-Fail Experiments
Belgian hockey became world champions not by copying but by daring to play differently. Businesses can do the same — design prototypes and pilots where risk is practice, not punishment.
4. Make Safety a Standard
Teams perform best when people can speak up without fear. Encourage challenge and dissent. The silent nod in a meeting is often the death of innovation.
The Leadership Shift
Control comforts leaders. But curiosity empowers teams.
Obedience delivers average. Ownership delivers excellence.
The leaders of tomorrow will be those who trade their joysticks for questions, who design environments where curiosity is not just permitted but prized.
As Earnshaw reminds us: “Control is a fantasy.” But curiosity? That’s a currency that compounds.
Ready to Lead with Curiosity?
Control is easy. Curiosity takes courage.
👉 If this resonated, drop a like, share your perspective in the comments, and hit share so more leaders can join the conversation.
And if you want the full story behind Russell Earnshaw’s philosophy, watch the complete The Business End episode here: https://linktr.ee/the_business_end
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