Humility in Leadership: The Hidden Strength of Humble Leaders
There are people in the workforce today who cut their teeth and spent much of their career working under or with command-and-control style leaders—ones who were unlikely to admit fault or display vulnerability. As baby boomers retire and new generations are taking up the helm of teams, departments, and entire organizations, they’re bringing a new set of values and ideals with them.
Over the past couple of decades, there has been a paradigm shift in leadership. As a result, we’re more able to recognize the strength inherent to traits that used to be seen as weak, traits like humility. A humble leader is a strong leader—one capable of growing in their own abilities as well as of encouraging the development of their teams and peers.
So, in the context of business and leadership, what is humility? What is the relationship between it and other leadership non-negotiables? And how might we go about deepening our understanding of it and our ability to harness its power? These are complex questions. Answering them fully would take a good deal of research and more words than we will dedicate here, but we’re eager to get the conversation going with some high-level discussion.
What Is Humility and Why Is It a Leadership Superpower?
Humility can be hard to define, and even the best, most comprehensive descriptions fall short of communicating the nuance inherent within the word—especially in business. That said, we think one of our Certified Executive Leadership Coaches puts it pretty perfectly in saying that, “Humility is a posture. It’s how you carry yourself in a way that reads as open and vulnerable, thereby allowing others to follow suit.” This might sound simple, but for us it rings true, and it leaves room for all the nuance we mentioned above. A posture isn’t necessarily static, it can be dynamic and is something that changes in response to circumstances and inputs without compromising its core.
Humble leadership builds a culture of respect and psychological safety, where team members feel valued, supported, and inspired to do their best work. This way of practicing authenticity and transparency goes a long way toward enabling innovation, something that is only becoming more valuable the deeper we dive into the digital age. No one can keep up on their own and capable leaders know that good ideas can come from anywhere. In order to welcome and even invite the best ideas, leaders need to be humble enough to be approached by those who have them.
In Pursuit of Genuine Collaboration: Inclusive leaders welcome all perspectives, especially ones they know might be in opposition to theirs, because this fresh take might illuminate a better way forward, or plant a seed for a solution for a future problem. Inclusive leadership also involves listening to understand, rather than just to have something to respond to. And, it certainly excludes hoping to have nothing to respond to. An example of this would be cc’ing people on email threads without asking a specific question or providing the context necessary for them to feel genuinely invited to weigh in.
Equitable Empowerment: Inclusive leaders work to ensure that everyone has equal access to opportunities, resources, and support. They also understand that some resources aren’t as helpful to some people, and that support needs to look different for different people. Some personality types are less inclined to join in public discourse. Leaders can practice inclusivity by attuning to their people’s needs and meeting them where they are—perhaps through a one-on-one conversation in person or via the phone. These leaders recognize fairness doesn’t mean treating everyone equally, rather it means providing everyone with equal access to what they need to succeed.
Honing Humility
There’s nothing more off-putting than inauthentic humility, which means there’s nothing easier for people to clock. If you’re a leader who knows that humility isn’t something that’s currently in your quiver, don’t fake it. Instead, begin with self-reflection and active introspection. These practices help produce a foundation that enables humility to naturally develop.
Also, since humility can be observed as behaviours or attitudes that place other people’s perspectives and contributions as important, these are some skills to consider developing. Valuable on their own, they are also helpful in cultivating humility.
Passive: Inclusivity doesn’t just happen. There has to be intention behind it. It takes deliberate effort on the part of leadership—effort to create an inclusive environment and to provide people with ongoing, appropriate opportunities to contribute, engage, and thrive. Remember, inclusivity is a practice.
Ignorant of Performance Metrics: Inclusive leaders seek to build diverse, high-performing teams, recognizing that such an environment can actually enhance everyone’s performance. As much as traditional notions of “merit” are limited and may overlook the diverse ways in which people contribute, there is absolutely room for inclusivity within meritocracies. In fact, inclusivity helps broaden the definition of merit to include different types of intelligence, creativity, and approaches.
Listen Actively
Humble leaders value others’ opinions regardless of rank or experience. They prioritize and welcome feedback, criticism, and external input rather than imposing their own ideas.
Practice Transparency
Leaders who own their missteps and use them as learning opportunities are building trust within their teams and fostering a culture of accountability. This is also a powerful way of messaging the importance of improvement over ego.
Share Credit
In business, victories are shared. It’s important to acknowledge the contributions of others and sometimes deflect direct praise. But there is a difference between modesty and meekness. Leaders can be strong in humility without being pushovers and definitely without running the risk of undercutting the effort or difficulty of a given task or triumph.
Consider the Context
The degree to which a leader should model humility, especially the brand of it that borders on modesty, depends on context. This is not to say that someone should only pull humility out of their toolkit on certain occasions, more that the volume or intensity of it should be tempered according to the audience or circumstance. Humility can be overdone.
Have a Growth Mindset
Rather than micromanaging, humble leaders are eager to empower their team members to take ownership of projects. By investing in others’ growth and encouraging collaboration, they effectively communicate their commitment to personal and professional growth.
Act Courageously and Live Authentically
Courage and authenticity are inextricably linked. It takes courage to act in opposition to what we as a society long believed to be implicit in strong leadership: an ego, an arrogance, an imposing presence. But the truth is, leaders don’t need to know it all. In fact, often people are promoted into leadership positions because they were performing at a high level in their initial role, not necessarily because of their innate leadership skills. It takes courage to admit one’s shortcomings and it’s that authenticity that unlocks humility. Today’s workforce is demanding authenticity and openness of their leaders, not in small part because they see that as a reason to believe they will be permitted and even encouraged to bring their true selves to work.
As the nature of leadership evolves, humility allows leaders to impart wisdom while continuing to amass it through what they learn from others at all levels of their organization. A workplace with humble leaders is one where authenticity and trust thrive, enabling a culture of openness and adaptability that is uniquely suited to meet the challenges of the modern business landscape.
But adopting humility as a core leadership value requires effort and practiced self-awareness. Leaders must actively pursue transparency, share credit generously, and embrace a mindset of continual growth. Doing so not only enhances their own effectiveness, it keeps their egos in check and sets a standard for others to follow.
