Humility — The Overlooked Leadership Trait

“What’s the one trait that makes a successful leader?” a manager recently asked me.

“Honestly, I can’t pick just one, but there is one that’s essential and often overlooked.  Humility.”

“Humility? No way!” he responded.  “Why would I want to down play my talents and my team’s accomplishments?  Who wants to work with a manager who’s always talking about what went wrong? “

While I agree no one wants a negative manager, being humble does not exclude talking about your accomplishments.

In his book, The Leader’s Code, Donovan Campbell gives a compelling and useful definition of humility.

At its essence, humility is nothing more than a realistic and unflinching view of yourself and your relationships.

Based on this view, humility has two aspects.  One is personal and focuses on the leader’s self-knowledge – their awareness of both their strengths and their areas for improvement.  The other is about working with others.  Humble leaders honestly appraise their team’s capabilities and accept the team’s view of their leadership.  They learn the good and the bad and use this information to build a strong team.

Far from showing weakness, humble leaders are strong – strong enough to see where improvements are needed and confident enough in their own abilities and in their teams to make them.  This is the kind of humility that develops better leaders and creates more successful organizations.