People value humility but don't see it in their leaders—only 25% rate their leader as humble. Humility is critical, yet rare, in leaders.
In a survey of more than 1,750 executives worldwide, only 25% of respondents believed their chief executive officer was humble. That is from research conducted by Leslie Gaines-Ross (Harvard Business Review: What Executives Value in Their CEOs).
In the survey, the same executives were six times more likely to assign humility to highly regarded leaders than to less highly regarded leaders. Therefore, we can speculate that humility is a critical and key component of “high regard.”
The research shows why humility is critical. Being humble helps the CEO's reputation. The same study shows that nearly half of a company’s corporate reputation and market value is based on its CEO’s reputation. Wow! It's time to stop being the self-absorbed, all-about-me CEO!
Definition
Even though humility is critical, it has always been a difficult word and concept for me. First, it isn’t natural for me, and second, it isn't easy to measure.
Using an English dictionary, we will find humility defined as:
That is a big help, primarily because the definition uses the word “meekness." Since humility and meekness are often used interchangeably, I offer the following as a working definition of humility…
Strength under control
That's the definition I was taught for meekness, and it fits humility. This illustration may help explain why that is a good definition of humility.
Assume you walked from Cairo to Johannesburg, a distance of 5,479 miles or 8,818 kilometers. That would be amazing!
Today, you are in a group of people who do not know you. They are all bragging about the longest walk they have taken. As the conversation develops, one person mentions that the longest walk they have ever taken was 20 miles. Then another person says, “I walked for 50 miles once,” and another says 100 miles.
You listen to them, congratulate them, and ask them questions about how they did it. AND, you feel no need to tell them that you had walked for 5,479 miles.
The Need for Humility
If you were asked, you may or may not disclose the information, depending on whether the group needs it. However, if they asked because they were talking about how to plan a much longer walk, it would be good to tell them that you had some experience doing long walks. That would help them.
But if it were just about how far people can walk, you may not say anything. That would demonstrate “strength under control.” Humility does not try to make yourself appear better than others.
“Strength under control” does not hide strengths, but neither does it flaunt them.
When leaders are arrogant and conceited, they create a barrier between themselves and those around them. Again, humility is critical because it lowers barriers in relationships. For most people, a lack of humility in the leader makes it more challenging to follow their instructions.
From the leader's side, humility is critical because it is gracious in its actions toward others. Humble leaders serve, develop, and even sacrifice for others! They don't make everything about "ME." Instead, they make everything about the organization and others.
Humility is critical because it puts the organization and others first. It is not "glamorous" like many other labels associated with leaders, such as persuasion, influence, inspiration, empowerment, risk-taking, decision-making, innovation, etc. Instead, humility invests energy in others and respects them appropriately. Humility stays in the background, even fights for the back of the line instead of the front.
Highly Underrated Leadership Value or Attribute
Additional research showing that humility is critical comes from Jim Collins's book Good to Great. He set out to find ten companies that were significantly better than their similar counterparts. At the beginning of his research, he told his team that he wanted them to focus on something other than the companies' leaders.
However, after the research was examined, it became clear that each company had a leader who could be classified as humble. So, he developed his view on how humility manifests in leaders. He may not see humility as critical, but he does see a humble leader reaching what he calls a "Level 5 Leader."
Good To Great's Five Levels
Ambitious and Humble
When Mr. Collins referred to Level 5 leaders, he made this interesting statement.
Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. It’s not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious—but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves. —Jim Collins
That last part is critical; it is about the organization, but not “ME.”
Humility is critical, and great leaders recognize this and embody it. They do not have less drive to get things done; they may have more. Why? Because they aren't wasting their energy and time on "ME."
