[March 23, 2018] I grew up in the Deep South and knew just about everybody in the small town my family lived in. The local sheriff was a good man but to me, he was just another adult. Later I discovered that he was actually a town hero because years before I was born he had stood at the entrance to town with a pistol and held off the Ku Klux Klan, preventing them entering. Being humble is a character of good leadership but it also has its downsides.
The KKK hooded men believed the Sheriff to be a timid man who would back down as soon as they showed up in force. Local history notes that the KKK came to our town armed with rifles and baseball bats looking for a white man who was dating a black woman. It was expected that they would teach the community to have “better moral fiber” … but it didn’t work out the way they wanted.
The Sheriff stood in the middle of the street with his pistol and said he would shoot the first six KKK members who tried to pass him. There were six shots in his pistol, as the legend tells us, and he did not carry extra. Although the oft-told story is written in a book that details the incident, no one today knows what happened during the confrontation except the KKK departed and were never seen again in our town.
“Nearly every Retired Soldier I’ve encountered is humble. It’s not in our character to promote ourselves.” – Mark E. Overberg, Director, U.S. Army Retirement Services
There is a dilemma with being humble. Some folks will think you’re weak, timid, have low self-esteem, or are unimportant. People will not know you and thus will not know your capabilities; strengths, willpower, resilience, or predictability. Like our local Sheriff, I would not have called upon him if I knew the KKK was coming to town. Yet, a challenge for good leaders is to be humble but avoid the downside to the trait.
Avoiding the downside to being humble means being forthright enough to show people your capabilities; especially those traits like the strength of character that makes you a valuable leader. A leader will not be called upon if people think you will back down or run away at the first sign of trouble. Show them by being a good example in the community and by being involved.
There is a valuable lesson to be learned about being humble. Being silent about your abilities is not always helpful.
A proverb from the Bible and we should never ignore them goes like this: “A man’s pride shall bring him low,
but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.”- Proverbs 29:23 Humbleness has been recognized throughout the history of mankind that it is indeed a trait valued.
It is common for folks to make fun of humble leaders for the reason those very same leaders will not strike back. I believe this is what you’re trying to say here. But, as noted by others, there is a need to insure everyone knows that such a leader is no pushover either. Too much humility can be counterproductive.
I’d be willing to bet that not many leaders are consciously aware of this. On another note, political leadership is the polar opposite of humble leadership.
Ron Edmonson writes a pretty good article occasionally and one of them is on the “10 Attributes of a Humble Leader.” For example, he notes the importance of being gentle, but strong. That reinforces the points made here and elsewhere. Thanks for a good article to start my day.
Here’s the link: http://ronedmondson.com/2015/08/10-attributes-of-a-humble-leader.html
President Trump is not humble at all. Look how far he got. Let’s not forget that there are other paths to great leadership.
Good points here. I made the SAME MISTAKES as others who misjudge (at least initially) leaders who were humble. Thinking my boss was a weakling at work, I went around him one day regarding one of his decisions. Boy, was I wrong to do that. I learned the hard way that sometimes judging people who are humble (and good leaders) from people who are humble (and truly weak) is not always easy and can have bad results when you’re wrong.
TGIF everyone. After a major screwup at work, I will be eating humble pie for the rest of the work week. There is an advantage at being humble!!!
This explains concisely why humble leadership works. But I would propose this is true only in select cultures like in Asia and America/Europe. In other places like the Middle East, South America, and Africa, this might not be the case.
Billy, you bring up an excellent point. All leadership is influenced by culture. We can see that in the U.S. where the definition of a great leader has changed over time. In my 40 years, I personally saw a movement toward “humble” leadership and away from “strong-arm” leadership.
Well said, Shawn. Every top-notch leader I ever met personally and was appreciative of their leadership abilities was a humble person. The worst leaders I knew were not humble at all.
Same here. Humble leaders are less likely to strike out at you if you make a mistake.
There is no need for great leaders to promote themselves, nor for those with a fundamental understanding of leadership. Leadership may be about getting people to do things they would not normally do (Gen Satterfield) but it is also about doing that in a way as not to offend people. That is why being humble for a leader works so well.
Question: Is there a relationship between being humble as a leader and respect for that leader? I would think so.
Wow, helps explain why many of my well liked teachers are so humble. Cheers!
Being HUMBLE has its advantages as well. It creates a scenario where the humble leader does not oversell himself (or herself). A recent article just out titled “How to Think about Patriotism”, Wilfred McClay writes that “…sentiment of patriotism is indispensable to the development of the kind of social bonds that foster solidarity and mutuality in a society.” I argue that a humble leader (or any humble person) can help develop solidarity and mutuality through humble leadership easier than any other way. I recommend his short article: https://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/how-to-think-about-patriotism
Thanks for posting os early; I get to work before others when it’s an admin day. Yes, there are downsides to being humble but as long as a leader is aware of them, they are fairly easy to overcome. General Tommy Franks, who lead the charge in the Iraq War, was extremely humble. Some mistook that for stupidity. Once, however, you spoke with the man, you quickly realized he was a genius. He used humbleness as a persona to pull people into his sphere and then real leadership to ensure they performed well. Being humble remains a good trait of leaders in modern societies.
Thank you, Army Captian. It is good to read your post this morning. Humbleness is often mistaken for “wimpiness”. I used that term to mean mild mannered and weak. But, just like Superman in the cartoon, leaders can be wimps but strong.