Oh to be humble...

It’s time to have a conversation about humility. A leadership virtue that is often misunderstood and grossly under-rated. If I asked you to define the qualities of a humble leader, would you be able to define them as rapidly as say the qualities of a passionate or charismatic leader?? Can you be both humble and assertive?

All leadership virtues are important; like Gratitude, Empathy, or topics I’ve yet to cover like Courage and Integrity. Today I am proposing humility has emerged as one of the most critical skills leaders need to master. Let me share my reasoning.  

Our workplaces have changed in ways too numerous to mention. Long before covid many organisations were embracing new ways of working to drive an uplift in productivity, cross functional teaming and to accelerate growth. A new language emerged; all of a sudden we were working in missions, thinking with an agile mindset, attending a showcase or about to finish a sprint! Teams flourished and productivity achieved a great leap forward; far greater than the early pundits could have ever predicted. Devotees cheered “we’ll never go back to working in silo’s again”. But what prey tell of the leaders in these newly transformed workforces? What leadership skills do they need to thrive in this new environment? 

If the new workplace norm is “going agile” then the new leadership norm must be “going humble”.

Leading with humility results in stronger teamwork, increases employee engagement and fosters an environment of continuous learning. All of which are exactly what the agile doctor ordered. However needing to become more humble, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s waiting in the wings for you. Humility is one of the hardest virtues to develop. Its opening premise forces us to recognise:

“You are not always right, and you don’t have all the answers”.

 Pause for a moment and read that last sentence out loud.

 How did it make you feel? vulnerable, in denial, or perhaps in total agreement?

When I started my career a statement like this felt completely obvious. I was hardly ever right, and I never seemed to have all the answers. I was learning and growing, my mental model was “Chris you are a sponge and everyone else can teach you something. Listen”. As my experience grew and my career progressed, the less I thought my humility was a critical part of my leadership. All around me I felt people needed me to have the answers and I wanted to ensure I wasn’t letting my team down by not knowing what to do. Hindsight is a marvelous thing.

My first takeaway: the more senior you become in your career, the more humility you will need to succeed.

Dr Robert Hogan, the founder of Hogan Assessments defines 3 key traits of a humble leader:

1. They are self-aware

2. They appreciate others’ strengths and contribution, and

3. They are open to new ideas and feedback regarding one’s performance.

It’s a worthwhile activity to evaluate yourself and determine how your humility score stacks up. Even better check out some of the assessment tools on Leader humility.

What I know now is that being humble doesn’t mean you are weak or lacking in your own ambition. Quite the contrary, humble leaders channel their ambition into helping their people and organisations grow, rather than using their ambition for personal gain.

The humility of an individual leader contributes to the creation of a concept referred to as Collective Humility. Research studies like those commissioned by David R. Hekman have shown when leaders behave humbly, followers emulate their humble behaviours, creating a shared interpersonal team process. This collective humility in turn creates a team focused on progressively striving toward achieving the team’s highest potential.

My second big takeaway: Humble leadership is the secret ingredient in the recipe called "high performing teams".

I would encourage you to reflect on how well the teams you lead operate with humility. Do they value each other’s feedback? Has it become a norm to share work and celebrate team success? Does the team prioritise collective goals over individual goals? Does the team admit it when they don’t know how to do something?

These questions can help you assess the degree of your team’s collective humility and in essence the degree of your team’s ability to deliver high performance.

These humility quotes always pull me back on track, I hope you enjoy them.

1. Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. C. S. Lewis

Humble leaders manage their ego carefully, their energy is spent on helping others grow. In doing so they show us their “humanness”. Watching our leaders be human, helps us to relate to them better and feel visible and relevant.

2. Humility is not denying your strengths, humility is being honest about your weaknesses. Rick Warren

Last week I watched a humble leader in action; a great listener, genuinely interested in other people’s ideas and offering a great deal of vulnerability in conversation. Did I mention the leader was a CEO? It was refreshing and liberating listening to him; by addressing his weaknesses he demonstrated his strength and conviction.

3. Humility is a strange thing; the minute you think you’ve got it, you’ve lost it. E.D Hulse

In my first article I wrote on the value of lifelong learning. Here again we are reminded that living humbly and coaching our people to develop their humility is a continual journey….one we should nurture and celebrate along the way.

Humility in Leadership is a topic we should talk more about inside our organisations. We need to nurture it deeply in our own practice and find our courage to demand more from our leaders. To know it is the muscle behind high performing teams can motivate us to find its strength.