The Power of Humility in Leadership

People will tell you politely that humility is important, but most don’t really believe it. As an attribute, humility has a weak public reputation and a bad name. People think it’s soft, cowering, and acquiescent when in fact the opposite is true.

The bottom line is that humility is a performance accelerator. It allows you to develop, grow, and progress faster. This unadorned attribute is shockingly powerful. Ironically, it is also one of the most difficult to cultivate. In his autobiography Benjamin Franklin said, “In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.”

Humility not only acknowledges the brute fact of your own dependency but also includes a fitting sense of gratitude. That sense of gratitude is a safeguard, a check on ego and its inherent dangers.

To be open and stay open, you will need the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual quality that is humility. How do you cultivate and maintain humility? You must be willing to confront your own failures, mistakes, and weaknesses. This will require a steady diet of undiluted feedback and continual striving for self-awareness. Finally, humility matters because it strips you of self-centeredness, allowing you to influence others with more penetrating persuasion. It removes the scales of prejudice from your eyes so that you can see more clearly. It gives you a greater desire to know people—their stories, their trials and triumphs, their heartaches and aspirations.

With humility you are much more likely to act with poise and patience under pressure and less likely to be frustrated, get angry, and show signs of compassion fatigue. Humility purifies your intent and burns out ulterior motives. You well up with love and a desire to serve. People sense this and become more responsive to your influence. They will work harder and contribute more because they know you esteem and value them.

(Excerpted from Leading with Character and Competence (Berrett-Koehler)