Humility - It's so underrated!

I was sat in the garden last night reflecting whilst watching the children play before bed, thinking over the importance of creating an environment amidst this current global situation of calm, happiness and smiling at the simple but happy life they have ... smiling because we ( me and my better half) take away all the stresses and strains of life to ensure they can be children and do what children do.

This pandemic has made me realise so much that the very simple things are usually the ones that bring me the most joy. It has also been important to me and my partner that we didn't let whats been happening around the world come "into" our home environment. Its our place to be as a family and it's our happy place. Its also important to me that if I don't know the answer or how to respond to a question that I ask for help and work with Laura to create a solution.

It makes me think over that how we act as leaders in times of uncertainty will directly affect the output of our teams and creating the right kind of attitude built on strong principles and values is priceless.

We all know that the world has gone through changes over the last couple of months that know one forecasted, predicted or modeled... its been awful hasn't it for lots of reasons? Never in my 40 years, and I hope never again, have we felt such pressure on most facets of our society. Public health, economies and human life have all been affected and it is in times like this where we need to step up and demonstrate true leadership.

In times of uncertainty, people are more likely to look to leaders for clear and unambiguous direction. These high expectations can mean that leaders feel pressure to have all of the answers all of the time and to appear singular in their focus to try and answer every question to every problem that we are faced with. This approach, however, can be the wrong approach in my opinion. Why?

It risks shutting out views and ideas from others who may be able to bring different perspectives to problems and help develop better solutions. It's OK as leaders to not have all the answers all of the time and it is the right solution to ask for help, suggestions or ideas in order to create a well rounded collaborative answer. Its creates unity and a bond between colleagues that can only enhance performance.

 The 'old school' view of leadership is that it’s about using position, power, commanding others, and overseeing work, micromanagement to ensure desired outcomes are achieved. Information flows from the top down and whilst this approach can work well (in some instances) where there is a path to achieving outcomes. It works less well when problems are complex and there isn’t an established way forward. Like in a global pandemic, for instance, our normal now isn't what it was, it isn't business as usual anymore, it isn't lets do what we have always done ( arghhhh)... we need to switch our approach. Be collaborative.

In these situations, I believe that leaders could benefit from taking a humble approach... and by that I mean recognising that you can benefit from the input or expertise of others, no matter their seniority.

I love speaking to my mentor, Jacqui Rigby, about lots of different things. Whether it be life and family over a coffee / breakfast or business and different ways of thinking. I know that by asking for an opinion or help and looking for input outside of my own 'echo chamber' that I will usually (9.9 /10) get a very different way of thinking from Jacqui that makes me re think my approach. This is probably why she is also so good at what she does...

Leaders who have the courage to adopt a humble approach acknowledge their limitations, have the amazing ability to empower others, and act with the objectives of the wider team or business in mind. This leadership style can unlock a number of positive outcomes.

 As a leader, it is possible to provide clear direction, yet also be humble and draw on the collective intelligence that exists within your team or organisation. This approach will help to ensure that problems are viewed from multiple angles, solutions are multi-faceted, people pull together and are able to adapt and remain effective.

I hope that we are now seeing the start of the green shoots across industry, it has certainly started to feel busier out there in the market with more and more business getting the confidence back to start to invest. It's great to see. Lets now use humility and our renewed sense of hope to create honest, creative and collaborative cultures that we can all benefit from. Its what I passionately believe will help us all in the long run...

I'll leave you with a quote from my pops who told me that 'humility isn't thinking less of yourself... its just thinking of yourself less'. This resonated with me and stays with me so much in everything I do now.

Thanks for reading :-)

Gareth