Humility in Leadership

I have really challenged myself recently to look at my own leadership and to view it through the lens of humility.

Humility, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary states “the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people; the quality or state of being humble.” The bible states in Romans 12:3 that “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” And the great British novelist and author C. S. Lewis stated “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”

The challenge I am seeing in organizations is a true lack of humility in leadership. This lack of humility would be at all levels. In meetings which I have participated in at work, during teleconferences with professional organizations, or listening to the political rantings of our current election process, it seems to me we don’t value humility.

People say they want a leader who upholds integrity and is honest. Organizations have values posted everywhere which many espouse these qualities.

Does any of this matter in our leadership?

If you haven’t read our RN2Leader blog by Mark Sterns on 10 February, I advise you to read it. Values are important, and humility seems to be in short supply.

Ahn and Ettner (2014) did a study on leadership values and considered generational difference and opinions on these values. The conclusion was that as times have changed, leadership preparation has changed, and organizations have changed, certain values-based leadership ideals have not changed (Ahn & Ettner.) Those ideals include integrity, good judgement, leadership by example, decision making, trust, justice/fairness, humility, and sense of urgency (Ahn & Ettner.) So no matter your generation or preparation we still value humility in our leaders.

And that brings us to the observation. Have you watched our national leaders, maybe someone in your organization, someone at a civic group try and defend their leadership or behaviors with justifications? At times, it seems it would be easier to take the approach of justice and fairness while supporting humility and say…”I was wrong.”

A while back during a decision in my organization, the experts provided me with the best support on a decision that needed to be made. I went with it, and it was wrong. As the situation unfolded, I found myself starting to create reasons for my error in judgement, which yes, included stating how I had been influenced to make my decision by the functional experts. Though all those facts were true, as the leader, it was still my decision.

It was easy to push the blame. After a short time, and realizing what I was doing, I stood up and admitted my mistake and moved on. Difficult? Somewhat, but not physically painful and it taught me a lesson. Humility provided an opportunity for reflection and change. I am certain in the situation I was in, and looking back, I would have still made the same decision. With the information we had available, it was the right decision. It just didn’t create the right impact. That doesn’t make it the wrong decision.

Supporting humility in your leadership takes action, it takes determination, and it takes self-awareness to when it is needed most.

As I looked around our world, around nursing, in our political areas, in organizations, I found 5 ways in which I believe a leader can induce, create, or support humility in their leadership:

1. Your decision…your responsibility. You make decision then you stand by them. If they are wrong, you take responsibility for them; if they are correct then share the praise with others.
2. Admitting you are wrong is strength. Taking responsibility for a decision that did not meet expectations is a true sign of a trusted leader. It takes no effort and is cowardice to blame someone else. Some of the toughest words a leaders says, which make them feel vulnerable is “I was wrong.” That vulnerability…is strength in action!
3. It’s not about you. Ultimately, as the leader, it is never about you. Your leadership and actions are a synthesis of your education, inherent knowledge, experience, and personality. But including all that, your leadership is not about you or your ego, status, or title. It is about the mission and the people. Learn to separate the two when needed.
4. Trusted agent is a goldmine. Do you have a follower, peer, supervisor whose trust you value? Would they tell you if you were not acting in a humble way? If not, you need one.
5. Stop. When situations are tense and things are not going as planned, you need to stop before you present yourself in a less than civil or humble fashion. All too soon when we have identified a problem, we look for blame before we fix the situation. Stop. Gather information, admit to failings, and move on.

Humility is not one of those values discussed much in leadership. I surmise that is because many leaders see this “soft” power as a weakness, something to avoid, and the belief that making mistakes makes you a bad leader. The problem with those sentiments is they come from the lens of self-righteousness, ego preservation, and privileged…none of which denotes a true leader.

Leading with you.

Dean

Reference:

Ahn, M. J. & Ettner, L. W. (2014). Are leadership values different across generations? Journal of management Development, 33(10), 977-990. DOI: 10.11087/JMD-10-2012-0131.

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