Be Humble

In this series, professionals share what they'd do differently — and keep the same. Follow the stories here and write your own (please use #IfIWere22 in your post).

"Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.” — legendary coach and speaker, John Wooden

I am 30 in this picture. My daughter is six. It was my grandmother's 75th birthday. In this snapshot, my mother, grandmother, uncle, daughter and I posed for a happy moment. Family is short-lived. My mother, grandmother and uncle are now dead. At that moment, life was good. I was enthralled with opportunity in corporate America; and insular that family relationships were fleeting.

At this moment, I thought that the world was my oyster. For a small-town girl born in the mountains of West Virginia, I felt that if I worked hard, and drove results, that success would follow. Corporate life was new to me, and I was reveling in opportunity. In my life, I have experienced more success than failure. I have achieved more and gone further in my career than I expected. I give thanks today, but if I had listened more to my mentors, things would have been easier. Let me share my perspective.

At the time of this picture, my boss told me to be humble and give thanks. He shared the advice, "Be humble, but fight like a tiger" to my work group. I got the point of "fight like a tiger," but I promptly dismissed his advice on humility. I should not have.

I was driven, and saw humility as a weakness. When he said this, I scratched my head and asked myself, "Why would my boss be telling me to be humble? Isn't humility a sign of failure?"

If I could go back, I would rethink my position. I now know that humility gives you inner strength. Today, my perspective is that there are too many self-occupied people in this world. 

It is too bad that humility is not a common trait. I recently had dinner at a restaurant at the Frankfurt airport Sheraton. My flight was late getting out of Istanbul, and I missed the last flight to the United States. I sat beside a table of middle-aged men leading a global operational team. As I reflected over my travel woes, I eavesdropped, and sipped my wine. The conversation centered on "Who on their global team was really committed?" As the men drank a costly bottle of wine, they reviewed the capabilities of the people on their team. The conversation was judgmental and harsh. I smiled. This had once been me. Instead of being humble and reflecting on how they could help the team, they were self-occupied, playing judge and jury on their team members' careers. I shook my head.

My advice? Strive for humility and give thanks for your family. They were both gifts that were taken for granted, but should not have been by the 22-year-old me. If you need to experience humility, enroll in something that you are not good at. Feel the humility from being at the back of the pack, and tap into this feeling and apply it to all the roles where you succeed, but should be humble. I find that it is easier to understand humility when you are failing than when you are succeeding. To illustrate a point, let me share a story.

This year, I enrolled in ballet, and triathlon bike and swim classes. I am not naturally athletic. I struggle to get on the points of my pointe shoes and to keep up the pace in my masters swim classes. I can see the frustration in my teachers' faces; but I work hard and, slowly, I get better. In my journey, humility abounds. It is not a god-given talent. I listen intently to my instructors, and fail often before I succeed. My advice for the 22-year-old is to have the same humility when you are failing as when you are succeeding; and through the ups-and-downs give thanks for your family.

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About the Author:

Lora Cecere is the Founder of Supply Chain Insights. She is trying to redefine the industry analyst model to make it friendlier and more useful for supply chain leaders. Lora has written the books Supply Chain Metrics That Matter and Bricks Matter, and is currently working on her third book, Leadership Matters. She also actively blogs on her Supply Chain Insights website, at the Supply Chain Shaman blog, and for Forbes. When not writing or running her company, Lora is training for a triathlon, taking classes for her DBA degree in research, knitting and quilting for her new granddaughter, and doing tendu (s) and Dégagé (s) to dome her feet for pointe work at the ballet barre. Lora thinks that we are never too old to learn or to push for excellence.