BETA This is a new service – your feedback will help us to improve it.

Section 2 of 6
Pathway 2: Maintaining curiosity

Maintaining curiosity

The 4 capabilities shown as 4 sections in a circle. Capability 1 which is maintaining curiosity, is highlighted.

Maintaining curiosity as a middle manager 

Maintaining curiosity means consistently seeking to understand team dynamics, challenges, and opportunities, enabling growth, and ensuring thoughtful, informed decisions that align with broader organisational goals. 

A middle manager maintaining curiosity behaves in a way that reflects their commitment to ongoing self-awareness and to deeply engaging with their service context. This section sets out examples of how you can maintain curiosity. 

Values and moral purpose 

Reflecting regularly on your motivations and values ensures decisions align with the best interests of your team, children, and families. Engaging in open discussions about values with your team to set an example of integrity and purpose-driven leadership. 

Biases and prejudices 

Paying attention to emotional triggers, biases, and prejudices helps you manage them effectively and understand how your identity influences interactions and perceptions. Displaying self-reflexivity allows you to model anti-oppressive practice by addressing your own biases and encouraging your team to adopt inclusive, equitable approaches. 

Workforce 

Being visible and accessible to your team creates strong relationships, helping you understand their strengths, areas for development, and the nature of their work. 

Seeking feedback on how your team experiences your leadership strengthens relationships and enhances your ability to support and challenge them effectively. 

Partners 

Engaging with local and national contexts, senior partners, and multi-agency audits helps you review practice, improve services, and promote up-to-date knowledge within your team. Sharing the priorities of other service areas and partners encourages collaborative working, while confidently challenging others ensures the best outcomes for children and young people.

Over to you

Spend five minutes responding to the following questions. 

  • In a recent decision I made, how did my values influence the outcome, and did I consider any biases I might have had? 
  • How can I create an opportunity this week for my team to share their feedback or discuss their strengths and challenges? 

You can use the ‘Maintaining curiosity as a middle manager’ section in your 4C leadership capability framework action plan for this activity. 

Previous Next
The resources have been developed by Frontline in collaboration with DfE.
Published: 30 January 2025
Last updated: 30 January 2025