Humility is considered as the act of lowering oneself in relation to others or having a clear perspective and respect for one’s place in the world. It also involves knowing your limits and having appreciation for the intentions, strength, and perspectives of others.
Unlike what some people think, humility is not the same as having low self esteem. A famous way of describing humility is that “it’s not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”
In his book In Humility: An Unlikely Biography of America’s Greatest Virtue, Dr. David Bobb says, “The power promised by humility is the power over oneself, in self-government. But humility’s strength is obscured by the age of arrogance in which we live”.
In other words, humility requires enormous self knowledge, self control, and self esteem. For this reason, it is often paired with leadership.
To be an effective leader, humility is a very important characteristic. It combines several traits that help you ultimately connect to people, and earn their respect. Some think it’s the one defining trait that can make a leader effective.
In our world, we often think of leaders as CEOs or managers, but anyone who takes control over their life to make it better for them and the people around them should be considered a leader. Humble leaders often acknowledge their own strengths and weaknesses and are open to seeking the advice and counsel of others. By doing this, they are able to learn more from others, grow, and also transform their weaknesses into strengths. At the same time, it helps them use the strengths of others, instead of trying to solve everything themselves.
When done well, everyone around the humble leader can work from his own strength, creating the best result possible.
When leaders are humble, they value their people and also have empathy and compassion towards them. Their subjects are also able to participate in any discussions and seek their advice when in need.
We can all imagine the leader who is not humble in any way and doesn’t take any feedback or criticism. This usually leads to a decline in their effectiveness, as they slowly lose the respect of people.