Humility

A man received a promotion to the position of Vice President of the company for which he worked. The promotion went to his head, and for weeks on end he bragged to anyone and everyone that he was now a VP.

His bragging came to an abrupt halt when his wife, so embarrassed by his behavior, said, “Listen Bob, it’s not that big a deal. These days everyone’s a vice president. Why they even have a vice president of peas down at the supermarket!”

Somewhat deflated, Bob called the local supermarket to find out if this was true. “Can I speak to the Vice President of peas please?” he asked, to which the reply came: “Fresh or frozen?”

I usually ask folks who attend my presentations to think of someone who made a difference in their lives. (Someone who made them a better version of who they are).

Later in the talk, I ask folks to describe that person to me.

And almost 100% of the time, the people they mention all share a common trait.

Knowledge, ambition, hard working, discipline are mentioned but not consistently.

One word almost always describes the leader or individual: “humility”.

Humility is a quality of great leaders who are able to build teams, inspire workplaces and reach and exceed expectations. The Wall Street Journal actually published an article on this very topic. Some of the key points:

• “Humble leaders tend to be aware of their own weaknesses. They are eager to improve themselves, appreciate others’ strengths and are focused on goals beyond their own self-interest.”

• “Previous common thought suggests that leaders need to be charismatic, attention- seeking and persuasive, yet such leaders tend to ruin their companies because they take on more than they can handle, are overconfident and don’t listen to feedback from others.”

• “Humble leaders can be highly competitive and ambitious. But they tend to avoid the spotlight and give credit to their teams. They also ask for help and listen to feedback, setting an example that causes subordinates to do the same.”

• “Humility also tends to predict ethical behavior and longer tenure on the job.”

• “Some times during a severe challenge or crisis, a top down and authoritative approach might be necessary. But long term, companies with humble leaders are more likely than others to have upper-management teams that work together, help each other and share decision making. These factors lead to greater companywide efficiency, innovation and profitability.”

Ben Franklin once wrote, “After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser”.

Said in a less elegant way, “The more I screw up, the wiser and more humble I become.”

Thanks for reading this.

With a goal to “help the next one in line”, Glen Cavallo, a 30+ year healthcare executive has chosen to share the many lessons he has learned with others. Glen does this by serving as a coach/advisor to leaders at all levels of organizations, as a board member and as he presents inspirational speeches at regional, national, annual and awards meetings.