I’m not a chef. I’m barely a cook.
But our family’s schedule dictates that I have a lot of meal preparation responsibilities, and my wife has taught me that adding simple ingredients can take something from okay to good.
Want your spaghetti and jarred sauce to be better?
Add in a little red pepper flakes and spinach.
Two simple ingredients make “okay” good.
When it comes to getting feedback, I like positive input. I hate negative input.
But when I add one ingredient, both types of feedback are good.
The ingredient: HUMILITY.
Humility opens me to being a learner and accepting input.
(This post has been stuck here for 24 hours. As I have wrestled with what to write next.)
When I googled “developing humility as a leader”, only one article from the Harvard Business Review in 2013 seemed relevant. It provided little insight into how to develop humility at a core level.
Thus, I will fall back on Jim Collins’ work in Good to Great, where he describes Level 5 leaders:
“They have two main traits: personal humility and professional will.
Their humility shows up as follows:
- They modestly shun the limelight.
- They act calmly and motivate with standards, not charisma.
- They are ambitious for the company’s success, not their own.
- They look out the window instead of in the mirror and credit other people or luck for successes.
They demonstrate their professional will by:
- Focusing on results.
- Doing what’s best for the company in the long term, no matter what.
- Setting high standards and never settling for less.
- Looking in the mirror, not out the window, when things go wrong; never blaming other people or bad luck.
Even this shows the characteristics of humility and provides little guidance on how to develop it.
Here are some observations from my own life. I am more humble when . . .
- I am well-rested.
- I start my day with reading, reflection, and journaling. (These habits set the rudder of my mind to being a learner during the day.)
- I invest time serving others without expecting anything in return.
- I spend less time on social media.
- I lean into curiosity.
So, this week, wrestle down the things that keep you humble and do that more.