Real-life adventurer and author Mikael Strandberg defines an explorer as someone who ‘is almost always driven by curiosity and a great willpower of making a difference’.
Edmund Hilary said, ‘It’s not the mountain we conquer but ourselves’.
Like explorers Hilary and Strandberg, an Explorer in your network will constantly ask you why, who, what, where, when and how? They’ll disrupt your present situation introducing you to a new future. They’re not interested in what everyone else thinks, the conformity of norm or even the “we have to do it this way because we always have”. Instead, the Explorer wants to know what you think, is more excited about the road less travelled, the thought less thought and this infectious questioning feeds your excitement at the possibilities of what could be.
An Explorer is a critical person to include in the ‘Network of You’. They challenge norms and uncover new paths. They constantly ask, ‘Why?’ and ‘Why not?’ They want to know and understand your goals and question how you’re thinking of getting there. They have an insatiable curiosity about your path to the top and often give you ideas for a different way of accomplishing your feat.
They will force you to remove the lens of normality and replace it with the lens of opportunity.
They want you to become more
Curiosity may well have killed the cat, but just as a cat has nine lives, in business, in life and in our career we have to be prepared to reincarnate and open new doors; to begin new journeys; to zig and zag; to pivot to get to our destination. The world we are living in is moving so quickly that the only way to remain relevant is also to keep moving, to keep being curious, to keep questioning why you are doing what you are doing.
And this is the role of the Explorer in our network.
Successful entrepreneur Nick Holzherr, CEO of whisk.com, describes his Explorer as;
‘an entrepreneur, investor and friend who has a significant amount of experience across a broad range of industries and businesses. We bounce ideas off each other, explore options, he shares his insight and this enables me to really look at opportunities and challenges from lots of different angles’.
If there is one thing that doesn’t need to be questioned, it is this: highly successful individuals do not become that way by idling along in the humdrum car park of life, waiting for progress and profits to come to them.
It all starts with a question – Why? A question of – Why not? And this is the role of the Explorer.
Who is your Edmund Hilary? Seek them out. Because if nothing else they will encourage you to think differently; to courageously and fearlessly carve out previously unknown options for you to help you achieve more.
