Humility — In Pursuit of Leadership
By: Monica Bajaj
Tags: Leadership, Be Humble, Leadership Skills, Leadership Development, Women In Tech

When we think about leadership or successful leaders, what comes to our minds? Things that strike us are someone being visionary, dynamic, enthusiastic, risk-taking and charismatic. More often than not, humility is overlooked or not even a part of the whole equation. Why? Humility should be the number one trait for successful leadership. Let me share why?

Every individual is a leader in their way. Humble leaders use their experience and knowledge to attract and inspire to bring people together, share their vision and build a stronger community. Leaders who imbibe the culture of humility use their successes for the greater good, rather than for self-aggrandizement.

People often get lost around the correlation of being humble and be ambitious together. In reality, if humility and ambition go together it leads to “Humbition”. Humbition is a blend of humbleness and ambition. Several luminaries in this world have made a huge impact through their work and continue to be humble. They focus on their work, not themselves.

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” — Maya Angelou.

Acknowledging others: Think about a time when someone did something really good and you did not bother to acknowledge it, rather made it sound like a regular chore. More often than not, we all must have done it several times knowingly or unknowingly. As a leader, never forget to acknowledge the hard work and diligence that your team puts in. Sometimes, people in leadership roles feel hard to be humble since they think that it makes them appear vulnerable. The most effective leaders do not have all the answers. We are all humans and this world is already so complicated. They get the ideas by having the right people around them and execute on them.

Humanity: Be a human, be authentic and then be a leader. We as humans, all have our flaws, vulnerabilities, and strengths in our unique ways. Great leaders have self- awareness of these which is a flavor of being humble. This helps to bring people following you just because they feel that you are genuine and open for guidance, self-improvement, and feedback.

Collaborative: Humility leads to collaborative leadership. The team members come forward, bring their passion, and experience keeping their egos aside. Such leaders create communities around them for a common purpose and common values; working towards a shared and impactful vision. Humble leadership truly empowers others.

Sportsmanship: Sportsmanship teaches that failure is a part of the game. Failures bring learning and teach being humble. As a leader, it is important to maintain composure when things go wrong. When wins happen, humble leaders embrace the victory with grace and dignity and takes the team along with them.

Being Grateful: We all live in a society and corporate world where people’s abilities get judged by their titles. Many leaders fall short of owning the powerful approach of humility. They like to take the top-down approach and manage up style which in turn makes them vulnerable. It is extremely important to understand the value each team member brings on the table and be thankful for their contributions. One should drop their prejudices and be inclusive of their people.

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets people to do the greatest things.” — Ronald Reagan

Authoritative: Most of the time people think that by showing authority with power, they can achieve their goals. They are severely mistaken. Power with humility helps leaders create resilient and high achieving teams. They honor the experience the team members bring on the table and help them take their ideas forward. A leader can be humble and still be powerful and influential. Titles bring pride and power. However, a sense of humility adds wisdom to this pride and power.

Lastly but not least, “ Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.” — C.S. Lewis

Humility does not demonstrate the absence of desire or confidence. We live in a world where ego gets attention and modesty gets appreciation. Being arrogant makes you to the headlines but being humble makes you unique. As aspiring leaders, we need to continuously question ourselves: Are we making an effort to stay humble? Are we strong enough to admit that you don’t have all the answers? Let’s stay HUMBLE!