We keep humility at arm’s length because we misunderstand it. Humility expands your life. Arrogance constrains it.
Everything good begins with humility.
7 Small acts of humility:
#1. Notice your desire for control. Frustration is an unmet need to control. It’s arrogance when you try to control people. Humble leaders know people control themselves. Trust competent people.
#2. Ask for help. I prefer giving help to receiving it. A person who never asks for help has a problem. When I have something you don’t have – knowledge, power, authority, skill, or resources – it’s justification to feel superior.
#3. Use four words regularly. “What do you think?” Listen to the response. Think about how it might work. Try something someone else suggests.
#4. Listen a little more. Eagerness to speak is pride and I don’t mean the good kind. See how long you can be interested in someone.
#5. Make a list of things you don’t know. We naturally think we know when we don’t. A reminder of your ignorance might open your mind. For example, you don’t know what other people think unless they tell you.
#6. Approach people as people, not tools. Leaders hire people to do things and then forget they’re humans.
#7. Give help softly. Don’t pressure people to receive your help. Ask permission. Respect the competence of others to let them grapple with issues on their own.
Humility is a direction, not a destination.
Which practice could you implement today?
What’s challenging about working to be humble?
Added resource: “Humble Leadership,” by Edgar Schein and Peter Schein
