A
healthy self-perception is a good foundation for humility. If I know I am loved
and accepted as I am, I become more ready to recognize others’ unique value as
well. Humility is the quality that makes people so aware of their limitations
that their sense of entitlement vanishes authentically. While being mostly
reserved for those with reasons to boast, humility is enforced by deep
spirituality. Being powerful creates conditions for one’s humility to be
validated, and knowing God reveals one’s sense of worthlessness and catalyzes
humility.
To
demonstrate humility, a leader must be safe, confident, and connected to God.
The Bible illustrates this in John 13: 3-5: In order to wash his disciples’
feet, Jesus first “knew that the Father had given everything into His hands”,
second, had a clear sense of his origin and destiny. This combined knowledge of
God and of self, made him safe and confident to wash His disciples’ feet. A
competent teacher is confident to be receptive to students input to knowledge
acquisition. A competent physician demystifies what he or she is doing and
receives input from the patient. In the process of being down to earth, the
leader builds followers’ confidence, and tells them: “you too can become like
me”. The leader also connects better with followers and builds their
competences. On the other hand, “pride or the loss of … humility is the root of
every sin and evil” (Murray, 1900, p. 12).
Unfortunately,
humility is far from being a universally shared leadership behavior. The
contrary of it has gained popularity among leadership practitioners, to the
detriment of shared well-being and success in communities and in companies.
Bekker (nd) points to the fact that contemporary leadership authors have
positioned self-promotion as a leadership quality. Only an intentional effort
to create a climate of humility can overcome the natural human inclination
toward preeminence. Such efforts include public rejection of arrogance,
recognition and reward of humble behaviors, explicit inclusion of humility
among organizational values, exemplification of humility by leaders, and hiring
practices that look at prospects’ humility (Bekker, n d). Robertson (2007) also
warns that God will allow “a messenger of satan” to persecute His servants whom
he elevates, in order to keep them humble despite the great things God may do
through them.
References
Bekker, C., J.
(nd). Leading with the Head bowed down: Lessons in Leadership Humility from the
Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia. Inner Resources for Leaders, 1(3).
Murray, A.
(1900). Humility; the beauty of holiness. New York, Revell [n.d.].
Robertson, P.
(2007). The greatest virtue. Virginia Beach, VA: Christian
Broadcasting Netwrok.
