Debunking the Myths: Embracing Humility in Leadership
Humility often gets a bad rap because it is associated with weakness. But humble leaders are, in fact, fundamentally confident, decisive, and ambitious.
Myth #1: Leaders Cannot Be Both Humble and Confident
Not only is this false, but I believe you must be confident to lead with humility in order to share credit.
This connection between confidence and humility might seem counter- intuitive at first, but think about it: Vulnerability is required to share your own weaknesses and where you need to improve. However, only if you are confident in yourself are you able to handle the implications of your humility—really hear the feedback and act on it. I know it is much harder for me to invite feedback when I am already a bit down on myself. To humbly invite others to honestly tell me what they think of my leadership, I need to have confidence that despite all my weaknesses, I have many strengths and that I am fundamentally OK and can effectively deal with the feedback provided.
Further, only if you feel comfortable in your own skin can you empower, delegate comprehensively, and enable frontline decision-making. As a humble leader, you are confident in your ability to create, train, and develop an expert team—step out of the spotlight and let them do the jobs they were hired and trained for. Rather than being a contradiction, confidence and humility go hand in hand.
Myth #2: Leaders Cannot Be Both Humble and Decisive
Conventional wisdom might suggest that humble leaders are indecisive— afraid to act when the negotiation is on the line or a team needs direction in crisis. Jim Collins’s research in Good to Great showed the opposite, that Level 5 leaders are those who blend personal humility with iron personal will to make tough calls. They blend humility and decisiveness to take charge and change direction when needed, all in the service of bettering the organization and producing long-term results.
Myth #3: Leaders Cannot Be Both Humble and Ambitious
It requires self-assurance to question your assumptions and reconsider what you always thought was true. What business are we in? Why are we failing? What is my part in this? These are hard, often painful, things to ask, yet they’re necessary if you are serious about reaching massive goals.
Only by constantly learning and growing can you make necessary changes to truly succeed. And striving for success is indeed the very definition of ambition. One of the more frequently quoted Good to Great leaders is Darwin Smith, former CEO ofKimberly-Clark. After his retirement, he reflected on his secret for success. In his humble words,“I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job.”
Oprah Winfrey is another powerful example of a highly ambitious and humble leader. She was born into poverty to a single teenage mother. Oprah became pregnant at fourteen; her son was born prematurely and died in infancy. She landed a job in radio while still in high school. By nineteen, she was a co-anchor for the local evening news, and her astonishing entrepreneurial career took off from there.
Dubbed the Queen of All Media, she became the first female Black billionaire. She has been ranked as one of the most influential women in the world. Though she has at times been criticized for having an overly emotion-centered approach, there is no doubt that Oprah has ambitiously overcome tremendous adversity. She has also benefited millions around the globe by helping make humility and self-awareness more mainstream, all while keeping her ego in check.
Humility is a Catalyst for Success
Smith and Oprah remind us that even when we are highly successful, we always have lots more to learn and master. Humility allows us to apply a growth mindset and always strive to do better.
You can lead with humility while being incredibly confident, decisive, ambitious and highly driven. Confidence, Decisiveness and Ambition go hand in hand with Humble Leadership