#4 out of 13 – Humility: Thanks for Being Humanized! – Why being humble matters.

It is said that Marcus Aurelius, one of the most respected emperors in Roman history, had an “assistant” whose only role was to whisper in his ear, ?You’re just a man. You’re just a man.?, whenever he was praised. It is surprising that many leaders still act [even though they probably say or believe differently] as if they prefer people that reinforce their egos or decisions instead of helping humanize them.

When I was a teenager, I was not humble. My confidence was greater than my competence (Confidence > Competence) and I probably embarrassed my mom in some moments. Life experiences humanized me tremendously though. And, I am extremely grateful for that! After our son was born, it did not take us long to realize how little we knew. Humility and patience define us. This is the fourth lesson: Humility and Patience have tremendous value and the sooner we are humanized the better!

The challenge once again is that being humble [or accepting not knowing or being wrong] or patient, in some cultures, can be a sign of weakness. Think of how many times you “made up an answer” for a question you did not fully know the response instead of simply saying “I don’t know. But I will research and get back to you”. Once again, research seems to be on the side of humility, patience and learning how to learn as a way to become better.

Good to Great identified the importance of leaders who display personal humility and indomitable will. Teaching Smart People How to Learn highlights how success in the marketplace is increasingly dependent on learning and how difficult it is for smart and successful people to learn. Innovation and Scaling for Impact talks about the “illusion of understanding” and the “illusion of competence” and the recommendation to focus on nurturing constructive dissatisfaction and constructive suspicion. The crisis the world is facing around coronavirus hopefully will make us aware of our illusions and how adaptive [check Practice of Adaptive Leadership] we must become. Remember Marcus Aurelius:

• “The First Step: Don’t be anxious. Nature Controls it All.”
• “The second step: Concentrate on what you have to do. Fix your eyes on it. Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being; remind yourself what nature demands of people. Then do it, without hesitation, and speak the truth as you see it. But with kindness. With humility. Without hypocrisy.”

Here are a few thoughts on how to apply this lesson to the workplace.

1.     Make it okay for people to challenge your thinking and make it better.

2.     Embrace your adaptive leadership self and acknowledge that we are more wrong than right most of the time. And that is okay. Accept that people on your team know more than you do. And that is also okay. Leverage their unique talents. And support their full potential.

3.     Become a student of businesses and organizations. Self-directed and experiential learning can be more powerful than any MBA.

4.     Nurture a culture of learning in your team and organization. The more you and others can learn together, the more you will contribute to a humanized culture.

5.     Avoid the common analysis paralysis by remembering that action is critical for learning. Do not wait to have all the information to act.

Why does being humble matters? Thanks in advance for joining the conversation and sharing your point of view and unique experience. If you wish to read the previous articles from the series, check out below:

Intro to Series – Becoming a #BetterPerson

#1 out of 13 – Invisible Differences: Looking the same but being different!

#2 out of 13 – Deeper Love: Giving without expecting anything in return!

#3 out of 13 – Small Achievements: Engine for Change!