Humility

Starting in early 2018, I have selected a single word to represent my New Year’s resolution, which I reflect on as I lead and grow Underhill. That year, that first word was “Discipline.” On my office wall is a picture of a cat walking in front of a line of German Shepherds - all interested but remaining in formation, in their sitting pose with the heading "Discipline" above the scene. The following year, 2019, I selected “Courage,” with the photo of Winston Churchill and his quote “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” For 2020, I pondered what my word would be and without a clear answer forthcoming, I made like a good engineer and searched Google with the terms: “Discipline,” “Courage” along with the word “Leadership.”  The result that piqued my interest was the article by Sandeep Jain, “Courage, Humility, and Discipline – Three Must-haves of a Great Leader!”  https://medium.com/swlh/courage-humility-and-discipline-three-must-haves-of-a-great-leader-b524c02230f4

I quote here from the author: “The pre-requisite for being a good leader is to have the qualities of courage, humility, and discipline, as these are the qualities which distinguish exceptional leaders from mediocre ones.” I was struck by his specific definitions of these virtues:

“Courage is about confronting your weaknesses and devising strategies to work on the identified weaknesses.” That is leaders are not perfect, in fact far from it, leaders know themselves well and have the courage to ask for input from mentors to seek knowledge from several sources and make the decisions necessary to build up the firm where the leader realizes that he or she is weak.

“Discipline is the ability to commit your time and energy to the outcome being pursued, in a quantum commensurate with what you are expecting to achieve.” Building on Courage and the self-realization of the need to go beyond one’s self (i.e. following the decision to take that first step in the face of fear), Discipline is walking the path with the focus and the grit to stay on the journey with a commitment to face the risks, which no doubt, will be waiting for us at spots along the road.

This brings me to the author’s third virtue of leadership, and the word that I take to heart for 2020: Humility. Jain states: “If you are wanting to get better, then you have to start by accepting that you are not perfect. Humility is acknowledging the work that needs to be done to change and grow, not to let ego come in the way of this process of change.” 

Of the three words: Courage, Discipline, and Humility, it is Humility that pierces my heart. Since a child, I always strove for perfection – particularly in math and the sciences. Funny enough, although not an athlete by any means I took this same mindset to sports, constantly focusing on technique to the detriment of the enjoyment of the game. It was not until I was an adult did I realize why I had this mindset – deep inside I felt I was not good enough. I don’t have the statistics, but I would not be surprised if other leaders carry this same thought within them. 

This is why Jain’s article hits me so hard – it is the acknowledgment, actually more than that, the acceptance that we are not perfect. It is through Humility that we let go of the ego as Jain puts it. This means that we as leaders are not on the road to success alone – we surround ourselves with the people who help us achieve what Steve Job’s called Insanely Great. Who are these people, you may ask? Mentors who are older and younger than we are, giving us advice; family and friends who provide encouragement; and the employees with qualities greater than ourselves – who contribute in ways beyond what we can imagine to the firm’s success. 

Yes, the journey is long and hard, but together, we can do it - and that makes all the difference.