Humility is a trait that is often mischaracterized as weak or submissive, but the reality it’s takes massive courage and confidence to be humble or act with humility.
The key is to lean into your strengths and be open about your weaknesses. Ask for help, don’t be afraid to not know the answer, give credit where credit is due, especially when YOU yourself are due the credit. Too often leaders say things like “Just doing my job” or “It was all the team”, you are part of that team, own it. Make sure to share the love and don’t take all the credit (unless it’s something you did solo). Taking credit is something I have always struggled with, I found a simple “thank you” lets people know that you own your part in it and take the compliment.
The downside of humility is not letting it impact your teams ability to move forward or to grow. People that are humble or act with humility can be seen as indecisive because they defer to the team or others too much. It’s ok to get input and try to drive consensus, but make sure you pull the trigger on a decision before it lingers too long. Lastly, make sure you are delegating effectively…humility strong leaders, tend to not want to overburden their teams, so they don’t give them more work, which ends up overburdening the leader and take crucial growth opportunities from their people. Delegate!
Overall, humility is a strength and most employees (95%) wish their leaders were humble leaders. 97% of leaders WANT to be that leader, 80% report themselves as being that leader…but sadly, only 37% of employees report having a humble leader. We have to close that gap!
I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care!
