The Honor of Humility
About a year ago, Kathy Sierra wrote a nice post that riffed on a keynote speech by Paul Graham that she’d recently attended. Relatedly, ChangeThis recently posted a manifesto by Graham called “The Power of the Marginal” which I highly recommend reading.
All this got me thinking about how often ego gets in the way of good work. I’ve been known to recite, “I leave my ego at home.” Of course, that just means that I try to be mindful of the ways that my ego gets wrapped up in my work and that, when possible and when I notice it, I try to subdue those impulses that get in the way of real work getting done. I think of all this stuff as being humble.
Humility has historically gotten a bad rap. A lot of folks seem to equate humility with being a pushover. Far from it (for example, Gandhi was humble and physically small, but he was no pushover). From my management-oriented point of view, humility is simply our ability to see that we can’t do much on our own. For example, I know that any credit given to me is really a reflection of the willingness of my staff to take action. Generally speaking, my role in our sucesses is relatively small. If we fail, though, I’ll assume more “credit.”
The humbleness of a warrior is not the humbleness of the beggar. The warrior lowers his head to no one, but at the same time, he doesn’t permit anyone to lower his head to him. The beggar, on the other hand, falls to his knees at the drop of a hat and scrapes the floor to anyone he deems to be higher; but at the same time, he demands that someone lower than him scrape the floor for him.
—Carlos Castaneda
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POSTED IN: career, coaching, leadership, looking inward
4 opinions for The Honor of Humility
Jason
Nov 28, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Ohhh what a great article and quote. In these days, obsessed with productivity and advancement of the self, humility is neglected to neglected to the detriment of the planet.
Joey
Dec 4, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Right on! Also, I find that by practicing humility you can make it easier for people to understand the value you do provide. When you give credit where it’s due, your own contributions can be put in context. Those who try to make themselves look good by taking more credit than they deserve are always at risk of being exposed and discredited.
Dan
Dec 4, 2006 at 11:21 pm
Humility, unpretentiousness, a quiet and undramatic approach don’t fit the Hollywood images of heroic leadership, yet they are can represent a person with unusual maturity and competence. Often they don’t demand to be leaders, they don’t “take” leadership, they simply offer it. Like chemistry in a romance, charisma comes in many different forms. Sometimes the “click” is instant but doesn’t last long; sometimes the energy builds slowly over time! I have watched humble, soft-spoken leaders change environments that were frustrating as hell, simply because they were never frustrated while they continued to make small, sweet changes that gradually replaced a culture of internal competition and “performance paranoia.” There is that old phrase, “smooth waters run deep.” In the same way, humble leaders can bring enormous power.
Thanks for the post, Bren.
Dan
Ryan
Dec 8, 2006 at 6:33 am
I think the above comment on productivity being a heavy focus is absolutely true. In fact in some circles the act of improving productivity is taken for the fact of being more efficient and gaining more status. However, I am a huge follower of Getting Things Done. I believe with this philosophy it is more a defensive measure where we all know there is too much to get done and too little time to do it. I’ve taken a more a humble attitude at this as I realize there is no way I will ever get everything done that i want to do. Humility is a great asset and in my case an awareness that helped lower my personal stress levels. Thanks for the post.