5 Traits of a Humble, Confident Leader...


1. You know what you know and what you don’t know.


2. You acknowledge your accomplishments, but know there will be others who are more successful than you.


3. You never forget where you came from.


4. You treat everyone with respect.


5. You diminish the “I” and elevate the “we.”


How Humble Are You?


Do you agree or disagree with these statements?


1. I appreciate other people’s advice at work.


2. It’s not my job to applaud others’ achievements.


3. People lose respect when they admit their limitations.


4. I am entitled to more respect than the average person.


5. I do many things better than almost everyone I know.


6. It annoys me when others ignore my accomplishments.


People high in humility tend to agree with item 1 and disagree with items 2 through 6.


Source: Hogan Assessment Systems 18 | The Retailer Magazine | Jan/Feb


The Best Bosses are HUMBLE Bosses


Being humble doesn’t imply weakness. On the contrary, humility enables leaders to be gentle, but strong, forgiving, and appreciative. Humble leaders are often described as sincere, modest, fair, truthful, unpreten- tious and authentic – none of which are incompatible with strength and courage.


Humble leaders are honest. They are comfortable in their own skin. They know what they know and don’t know. They acknowledge your accomplish- ments and expertise, and recognize that there will always be others who are more successful or accomplished than them.


Humble leaders work for the good of the organization, rather than them- selves. They listen more effectively, inspire great teamwork and focus everyone (including themselves) on organizational goals. They share au- thority and responsibility, invest in others to build new leaders, take risks in them and trust them with the vision.


While humble leaders can still be highly competitive and ambitious, they tend to avoid the spotlight and give credit to their teams. They also ask for help and listen to feedback from others, setting an example that caus- es subordinates to do the same. No matter what their title or how high in the organization they rise, humble leaders don’t forget what it was like when they were starting out.


They understand that they are not the smartest person in every room. Nor do they need to be. Humble leaders encourage people to speak up, respect differences of opinion and champion the best ideas, regardless of whether they originate from a manager or an hourly employee. They have a strong awareness of their strengths and weaknesses and recognize their need of others.


Humble leaders are often servant leaders. At its heart, servant leadership is based on the simplest of concepts: caring for others and putting their well-being first. Servant leaders have the humility, courage and insight to admit they can benefit from the expertise of others who have less power than them. And when leaders put others’ interests ahead of their own, they tend to make decisions differently.


When leaders harness input from everyone, show respect and ask how they can serve employees as they work to improve the organization, it carries throughout the organization. Others start to follow their approach and a culture of getting the best from every team and every individual takes root. When leadership is grounded in a shared sense of mission and acknowledges each team member’s importance, everyone feels ownership and willingly participates. Both are rewarded by the team’s performance.


In short, humble leaders know how to get the most from people. Humble leadership creates openness and trust by personalizing relationships in the working group. And when teams are built on relationships, trust and mutual respect rather than authority and ego, bonds run deeper. People are committed to their team and work in a way that goes way beyond a paycheck.


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