Why is Humility so critical for a leader?

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Clario Bonandini, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

“Humility is a mindset about oneself; One that is open-minded, self-accurate, and “not all about me”, and that enables one to embrace the world as it “is” in the pursuit of human excellence” Says Edward Hess in Humility is the New Smart.

Writing about leadership and humility seems counter intuitive.  However, research shows that humility is one attribute of a leader that can take a company from average to superior performance.

One study that linked humility with great companies was conducted by Jim Collins.  In his article “Level 5 Leadership”—The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve” he shares how he discovered something he did not expect to find; that humility and will power make up the two characteristics in leaders that transformed good companies into great ones.  Speaking of Darwin E. Smith who was named chief executive of Kimberly-Clark in 1971 and was its CEO for 20 years, Collins says:

“Smith’s turnaround of Kimberly-Clark is one the best examples in the twentieth century of a leader taking a company from merely good to truly great. And yet few people—even ardent students of business history—have heard of Darwin Smith. He probably would have liked it that way. Smith is a classic example of a Level 5 leader—an individual who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will. According to our five-year research study, executives who possess this paradoxical combination of traits are catalysts for the statistically rare event of transforming a good company into a great one.”

Researchers have discovered that:

Humility shows up as a willingness to learn from others even from those who are under your authority.  Asking questions or approaching people with “humble inquiry” (Edgar Schein) inspires commitment, respect and trust in others. 
C. S. Lewis puts it this way: “Humility is not to think less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less”

In the “7 habits of highly effective people” Covey writes that habit number 4 is “to think win -win” and number 5 is “to seek first to understand, then to be understood”. These two habits are based on humility.  Humble leaders do not have a “win – lose” perspective on rising issues in their company or team.  They first seek to understand the issues or situations and after listening, receiving input from others, and putting aside coming up with all the answers, give direction according to the needs of the team, and the goals to reach.  

Level 5 Leaders are, says Jim Collins “… inherently humble, look out the window to apportion credit—even undue credit—to factors outside themselves. If they can’t find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck. At the same time, they look in the mirror to assign responsibility, never citing bad luck or external factors when things go poorly.”

However, the question is, how is humility expressed in the business world? Often when people hear the word humility, they imagine people dressed in robes and a halo above their head.  Well keep reading…