To become a leader you need to be humble
“From Good to Great” book and some of my previous work experiences taught me that the true leaders are nothing more than humble. Let me remind the incredible power of humility by quoting this “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” — Rick War.
When it comes to thinking about leaders such as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Angela Merkel one could say that humility is not the first word that comes to mind. When someone speaks about leader’s traits, they usually refer to their vision, courage, incredible communications skills and so on. But you know what? Jim Collins in his book “From Good to Great” teaches us that “a powerful mixture of personal humility and indomitable will” are two common traits of CEOs in companies that transitioned from average to superior regarding market performance.
With my professional experience, I was able to understand how a leader should not be (and the problem that lacking humility brings!).
Fortunately, however, I also had the opportunity to see why humility is so important on both a professional and a personal context and let me tell you that knowing its importance is not as obvious as you might think.
I believe that humility keeps us aware of our nature and prevents us from being corrupted by privileges. Being humble is what keeps us loyal to who we are regardless of the stage of life we are in.
I’ve been put into practice small things that I have come to understand that all humble leaders have in common. Here, are 5 things that I consider to be easily put in practice to become freedom from pride and arrogance:
- Listen more. I believe there is a reason for us to have two ears and one mouth, and the reason is so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. So, start practising your active listening and give an opportunity to yourself to have amazing conversations and let others surprise you.
Did you know that a recent study found out that high quality (attentive, empathic, and non-judgmental) listening can positively shape speakers’ emotions and attitudes? - Encourage people to speak up. And when you do that don’t judge — let’s quote Paulo Coelho and say “We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. So, judge less, accept more, and restore your happiness.” Respect different opinions and use your empathic side to recognize emotions in others, and to understand other people’s perspectives in a situation.
- Ask & Accept constructive feedback. Use this free tool to your personal development and to strengthen your relationships. The feedback shouldn’t be used only on work context — you can also ask people who are very close to you. The goal is to try to find people who would be willing to give you candid feedback. Requesting feedback from different people that probably view you differently will allow you to dive into many sources of information. Through this, you’ll be able to get a nuanced, well-rounded picture of how you’re viewed by different people. And, in this process, you’ll be better able to set targeted development goals.
- Be genuine. “There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a person being themselves. Imagine going through your day being unapologetically you.”
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience - Recognize your weaknesses and work on them. When I started my internship at Blip as a Product Owner, my mentor showed me the most incredible tool ever — a Personal SWOT, where I can carry out an analysis related to my strengths (that can relate to the people around me), my weaknesses (and feedback helps a lot recognizing weaknesses that I wasn’t able to see: the so-called Blind Spots) and to look at them considering the Opportunities and Threats I face (either within my professional and personal context). After this, I started focusing on developing action plans: at the beginning of each month, I establish objectives for that month (according to the results from the SWOT analysis) and select an appropriate development activity to meet those objectives. At the end of the month, I evaluate the results of my plans of actions by looking at the SWOT analysis to understand the changes. Hereupon, I iterate on them — what has gone well I keep doing, what did not go so well, I try to understand the reason and find new solutions and set a new action plan.
When it’s time to become your best self, all days are good to start, because…
“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back.” — Paulo Coelho
