This won’t come as a surprise to anyone who leads, but leadership is hard. Almost anyone can lead on a sunny day when the wind is at their back, but that’s not the nature of leadership. Leaders are frequently asked to take the helm during a storm. They often have to choose between the best of several acceptable options, but at other times, they must decide between what feels like bad and worst. No matter how hard the leader tries, he or she will never have all the facts. This challenging reality is why I believe so strongly in a participatory approach to leadership, and participation requires humility. That’s why many leadership experts refer to humility as “the secret sauce of successful leadership.” Everything works better when it’s present, and things tend to fall apart when it’s absent.
The beginning is a good place to start with a few disclaimers. First, I’m NOT a humble leader. I hope I’m a proud man on the road to humility. Pride is insidious. Just when I think I’m getting a grip on it, it raises its ugly head once again. I have agonized over this issue because I have seen it hurt my leadership and that of other gifted leaders I know. Also, I think pride is one of those character flaws that is easier to spot in others than in oneself. Next, pride has both an objective and subjective nature. There is my prideful heart which is demonstrated in actions and attitudes, and there is how others perceive me. They are not the same thing. I am responsible for my sin, but I need to also acknowledge that others judge me through their own brokenness (just as I judge them through mine). This means I need to be very grace-filled when critiquing others “for with the measure (I) judge others, so shall (I) be judged.” Lastly, I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a completely humble leader. It’s more about the direction of one’s heart. I have been very fortunate to be around some leaders who truly demonstrated a desire to live humbly before God and man. I want to be one of those people, and that’s why I wrote this post. Now, back to the subject at hand.
King Solomon lived around 1,000 BC. Here’s how the Bible described him. “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men…and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom” 1 Kings 4:29-34.
Solomon said, “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22
The wisest man of his day understood that just because he had the responsibility of making decisions didn’t mean he always could make the right one. It’s essential that you and I care deeply for those you lead. After all, that’s what shepherds to do. But, caring isn’t enough.
Care, concern and control don’t always equal competence. When the responsibility of caring for someone or performing an important task for which we are ill-equipped falls within our sphere of control, we as leaders have the responsibility to seek help and guidance humbly. Otherwise, we hinder our personal growth, and more importantly, we may harm those for whom we care.
Humility is a powerful safeguard. It protects us as individuals and those we lead. In my effort to grow in this area, I’m asking myself the following questions. How do I identify pride in my life? What should humility look like in my daily life? And, how do I develop this “secret sauce of leadership?” After all, I want to move from desired growth to actual growth?
Pat Williams, in his book, Humility: The Secret Ingredient of Success, identifies seven traits of a humble leader.
1. Humble leaders are always learning. They don’t assume they have all the answers. They’re curious. They’re constantly reading, listening to ideas, and asking questions of people with whom they know they disagree. Otherwise, we’re just reinforcing our biases–which is a sign of pride.
2. Humble leaders serve. One way leaders do this is by putting the success of those they lead above their own. Eugene Peterson, in his Bible paraphrase, The Message, summarizes the teachings of Jesus on this subject this way. “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage” (Matthew 20:25-28). Leaders understand that their success has more to do with the hard work of others than with their efforts and intelligence. A good rule of thumb is this. “If you take care of those you’re called to serve, they’ll take good care of you.”
3. Humble leaders respect the individual. I’m a Christian, so my desire to respect people comes not from whether or not they deserve respect but from the biblical understanding that every person is created in the image of God. C.S. Lewis put it this way, “There are no ordinary people. You have never met a mere mortal.” Elsewhere, he writes, “…the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship” (The Weight of Glory). The glory of God, deeply imprinted on the soul of every human, demands our respect.
Showing respect as a leader starts with simple things like being kind and compassionate, but it goes beyond that. It includes listening and asking follow-up questions. It also includes speaking the truth. Truth is best communicated over the bridge of trust–the weightier the truth, the higher the demand for trust. As a follower, I have the responsibility of listening to my leader based on his or her position. They have the right to speak into my life. As a leader, I should respect those I lead enough to help them grow and understand that building trust facilitates that process.
4. Humble leaders surround themselves with smart people. This premise takes us back to Solomon’s statement about advisors and success. Clearly, Solomon wasn’t talking about an approach to leadership in which he asked just anyone for their opinion. When we’re seeking out smart people from whom we will seek counsel, we need to look for competence and credibility.
Leaders are constantly required to make decisions about things for which they are not qualified. While working on a graduate degree in leadership, I had to take a course on legal issues in business and the non-profit sphere. This course stretched me. I did well, but my biggest takeaway from the class was just how much I didn’t know and the understanding that it is crucial for leaders to get input from many qualified sources. Leaders are tasked with the responsibility of making the final call, but they need to do due diligence before reaching a decision. And, the best decisions are made when counsel is sought from qualified people.
Credibility involves reputation, but it’s more than that (at least for me). I want to see sweat equity in the decision. This means I’m going to give more weight to the ideas of those most likely to be impacted by the success or failure of the process. Organizations regularly pay consultants to give them feedback and then ignore their counsel. Why is this? Other than hubris, the most common reason is that people leading organizations understand that the consultant has no flesh in the game. They get paid either way. This can create what psychologists and economists call a moral hazard. Economist Paul Krugman describes a moral hazard as “any situation in which one person makes the decision about how much risk to take, while someone else bears the cost if things go badly.”
Competence is about expertise. Credibility is about ownership. I want people with both traits sitting around the table when I’m making decisions, and that means bringing people in who are smarter than me. The late advertising executive, David Ogilvy, used the following illustration to demonstrate this truth. He placed a Russian Matryoshka doll in front of each member of his leadership team. You’re probably familiar with these stacking dolls in which each doll has a smaller but similar version of itself inside. Ogilvy had each person open his or her doll. In the heart of the doll, he had placed a personal note which read, “If you always hire people who are smaller than you are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. If, on the other hand, you always hire people who are bigger than you are, we shall become a company of giants” (from What They Still Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark H. McCormack). Humble leaders build organizations that are made up of giants.
5. Humble leaders surrender control. Good leaders are comfortable with a high degree of ambiguity. Growth is messy. The late Kenneth Taylor put it this way in The Living Bible, “An empty stable stays clean—but there is no income from an empty stable” (Proverbs 14:4). Forgive me for being so blunt, but if you want growth, you’re going to have to be willing to put up with a lot of crap. When done right, surrendering control creates healthy chaos. It frees people up to focus on results and not methodologies. Insecure or prideful leaders want results, but they want them produced in a prescribed manner. Confident but humble leaders hold subordinates responsible for the results, but they give them the freedom to follow their own path to the end of the rainbow (assuming the path is ethical). They’re okay with people making mistakes as long as they aren’t repeatedly making the same mistake. Humble leaders create failure-friendly environments.
6. Humble leaders demonstrate genuine empathy and caring for subordinates. Empathy is the ability to experience and relate to the thoughts, emotions, and/or experiences of others—in short, it’s the ability to put oneself in another’s place. Empathetic leaders inspire loyalty and respect. In short, empathy builds trust, without which, people won’t follow. “Empathetic leadership creates an emotional bond with followers and demonstrates that a leader cares about the follower as a person—not simply an organizational asset” (Empathetic Leadership: How Leader Emotional Support and Understanding Influences Follower Performance by Kock, M. Mayfield, J. Mayfield, Sexton and De La Garza). However, this characteristic isn’t just about the “soft side of leadership.” According to Prudy Gourguechon of Forbes, “(Empathy) allows you to predict the effect your decisions and actions will have on core audiences and strategize accordingly. Without empathy, you can’t build a team or nurture a new generation of leaders.” When your followers are convinced you care about them, and not just what they provide the organization, they’ll do whatever it takes to help you succeed. It’s no wonder humble leaders endear themselves to their followers and foster environments where turnover is low.
7. Humble leaders treat “customers” with loyalty. Bill Veeck, former sports executive, said the best way to create loyalty in people is to treat them like royalty. You may not have “customers” per se, but it’s vital for all of us to understand that in today’s world, people have choices. We don’t have to pander to people, but we should treat individuals the way we want to be treated.
My limited sphere of influence is in the church world. In this domain, people give us their time, resources, and talents—they even trust us with their children. Humble leaders reciprocate with their love, affirmation, and appreciation. People want to know someone will miss them if they are gone. The same applies to those who choose to serve alongside us. They want to be appreciated. By the way, if you’re wondering how to do this better, I recommend The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplaceby Gary Chapman and Paul White.
Leadership may be difficult, but humble leaders understand that in the counsel of many, there is success. Are you facing an overwhelming challenge? Who do you need to ask for help?
