Humility is at the Core of Every Good Leader
I played sports quite young. The school I attended in my youth placed almost as much importance on sport as it did on academics and looking back, I can see why: rugby, football, cricket — I learned more about team dynamics from my years playing sports than any seminar or book has taught me later in life.
That being said, upon reflecting on my leadership style and management style I can admit that early in my career I did not apply those lessons fully. It certainly came in handy that I already knew how to get people motivated, but I’ll quite often say at that point in my career it was all about me. I had absolutely aligned my personal ambitions with my position, so every action I took revolved around that.
In hindsight it seems so immature and childish. The funny thing is, my team was highly motivated, and we were able to accomplish our goals, but everybody knew it was my show and that isn’t a sustainable way to lead in the long run. If I were to do it again, my approach would be the same — maybe I would even have similar team members — but I would manage them differently.
At the early stages of my career, that was the driving force — it was me, my ambition, my way, or the highway. However, as you evolve as a leader, evolve as a manager, and really as you evolve as a human being, you begin to understand it’s never been about you. The products would still have been successful without me, but quite often ego means leaders make everything all about themselves.
Humility is not one of the first traits associated with strong leadership. Others such as capability or even drive are often put forward as the most important. However, when you think about it there is no shortage of capable leaders in the world. There are millions of people with the education, natural intellect and experience needed to lead effectively. There is no shortage of people with drive either. Whether they’re motivated by making a difference in the world, their own personal ambition, or whatever life stage they’re in — they’re committed.
Humility is the secret sauce that has the ability to amplify these characteristics. At this point in my career as a CEO it is not only my job to lead an entire organisation, but also build out our executive leadership team. I have found that the people I hire who end up being great long-term leaders are those who I identified as having humility. When a company is working to reach targets and see growth, you can’t afford to have a senior leader who has not emotionally surrendered themselves to the cause of the company. Of course, you want them to be able to challenge ideas and directions in an intellectual way, but once a decision has been made if they aren’t able to let go of their ego and agree to it the team is constantly being let down.
If you don’t have humility as a human being, you are consistently challenging everything because you are challenging for the wrong reasons. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned absolutely in my career, it’s humility is just the core of a good leader. You’ll be smart, you’ll be intelligent, you’ll be the brightest man or woman in the world. But without humility you can’t actually lead.
Leaders who have humility understand that the main job as a leader is to encourage those who follow and bring out the best in them. Sure, a business leader’s job encompasses many more things such as creating strategy or answering to shareholders and the board, but at its core leadership is a relationship. People who have humility understand the gravity of that relationship, and rather than using the power they hold to intimate or control, they look for ways to help others grow in their own journey. They understand that in order for the organisation to succeed, others must be able to do so as well.
Humility also gives people built in lie detectors; an ability to see through flattery and recognise those who work hard, display skill and talent. They are less likely to be taken in by insincere attempts to get on their good side, allowing them to focus on the big picture and see how the overall success of the organization will be improved by developing authentic, deserving workers.
Those with humility also understand how to create a healthy balance between competition and collaboration. They understand that while a competitive spirit can foster excitement and motivation in a team, when that competition becomes too heightened it can create mistrust and ultimately divert time and energy away from the organisation’s goals. When collaboration and competition are brought together, trust becomes a pillar that people can rely on, allowing them to feel more relaxed and bring their full abilities and skills to the workplace.
Humble leaders don’t need to feel like they’re the smartest person in the room. Contrary to some people’s perceptions, it is possible to be both confident and humble at the same time. In fact, confidence and humility are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have true confidence without releasing your ego. Those with humility are secure enough in themselves to not feel threatened when others know more than they do. They are able to openly admit to their mistakes.
When you have humility, the buck stops with you. You are the first to take responsibility when things don’t work out, and the last to take credit when they do. Humbleness is about looking for ways to support and get the most from those who you lead. It is recognising that ultimately, you are a facilitator of all of your team’s capabilities, and ultimately any personal success is a result of everybody’s hard work and effort combined.
I have not always recognised the importance of humility in leadership. Thankfully, humble leaders are made, not born. Humility is a skill that can be developed through time and self-awareness.
The first tip I can give is to become a learner. The more you seek to learn, the more you are humbled by how much you simply don’t and can’t know in this world. It is actually almost impossible to be egocentric once you develop a habit of acknowledging that you don’t have all the answers. Secondly, pay attention to your language. How often are you using first-person words when you speak to others — words like ‘I’, ‘me’, and ‘my’ may feel more natural at first, but simply trading them for ‘we, ‘our’, and ‘us’ can have a huge effect not only in how your team and other stakeholder groups perceive you, and lean into a conversation, but even how you begin to perceive your actions.
Believe it or not, good leaders are fairly easy to come by. I feel confident in saying I was a good leader in the early days of my career. I knew how to motivate my team to create the results we needed. However, my focus on my own ambitions prevented me from being a truly great one, and made the difference between the short-term successes I sought in the past and the long-term goals I am committed to creating now, through humility, for all stakeholders.
