Servant-Leader: Humility

The place of a servant-leader is one of humility. Without it, we often find that we're going to get our priorities in the wrong order. Maybe not at first, but if we're not mindful, we'll find that we're not really where we should be.

C.S. Lewis indicated that the first step in acquiring humility is to realize that we are proud, "If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed."

Harry Joiner wrote, "Humility involves dying to oneself -- Sacrificing oneself to a higher good or yielding to legitimate authority. Quite often it means doing what you don't want to do. sometimes it means going down with the ship so that others may live. And always, it means killing the egotistical, self-centered person inside all of us who wants to be comforted, petted and admired. Humility is a Godly thing."

Some suggestions for practicing humility in the workplace:

• When you're in a contest of will with another person, just stop talking and let the other person be in the limelight.
• Ask others how you are doing. It takes humility to ask the question, and even more to consider the answer.
• Share credit for success with others. By doing this, you set an example of humility that inspires others to follow suit.

Here are some ways that a servant-leader can communicate humility in their organization:

• Invite feedback. Prepare your employees so they won't just tell you what you want to hear. Leaders must make it safe for their people to offer criticism as well as advice.
• Encourage dissent. Accepting dissent is a lesson in humility, you will also get other points of view, which are valuable.
• Turn mistakes into lessons. Don't cover up mistakes in order to look good, admit them. Publicize them as a way to learn from them. It takes humility to admit a mistake, and you can turn that into a success if you learn from it.
• Expect humility in others. If you show humility, you can ask and expect others on your time to do the same.

The dictionary reveals humility such as "the quality or state of being humble"; and humble is defined as "not proud or haughty, not arrogant or assertive, unpretentious, modest, or low in rank." Humble and humility are both derived from the Latin word humus, meaning "earth," a reminder that humility can be fertile soil for a fruitful life.

A humble servant-leader, will bear fruit.