Lexington, KY - Sally, have you gone soft?" Fred blurted. "Never admit to a mistake. You want people to think you're weak?"
"But Fred, don't you understand? By admitting a mistake, you show the team that you're just like they are - that you're one of them. They'll respect you more that way," she retorted.
Here we see two divergent, yet common viewpoints on the issue of humility. Which view is correct? Let's dig in and find out.
Humility
In 2007, much discussion took place around the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. This was to be the first time this world-class event would be held outside of Europe.
Dr. Pearse Lyons, the president of Alltech, also announced a concurrent multi-day music festival and his hopes for big-name entertainment such as U2 or Paul McCartney. Unfortunately, over time it became apparent that no big-name groups would arrive. As reported in the August 29, 2010, edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Dr. Lyons did not shy from the issue: "I am going to be the first to say that I made a mistake," said Lyons, who initially got music lovers salivating when he floated those and other names. "When I do something, I do it boldly and with passion, and at that time, I thought I could deliver that. But I could not deliver that."
I asked Lyons his perspective on humility's role in his leadership style and got this response: "I think the key to humility is that you are but part of the group; you are not the group. Never lose the common touch, whether you are the janitor or president. By doing this, you build trust and rapport with everyone in the group."
We often associate humility with piety or religion. However, humility is in fact a key component of outstanding leadership. Jim Collins, author of the book Good to Great, led a research team analyzing 1,435 companies in a search for outstanding companies. Of those, they found many good ones, but only 11 great ones. The great ones had sustained growth above their industry average for more than a decade.
As the researchers studied the differences between the great companies and others, two parameters became apparent: their leaders were both humble and fiercely determined to succeed. Forget the rock-star CEOs. These leaders gave credit to their teams and took the blame for any lapses. They also moved forward with steely determination to execute bold strategies, often taking flak from Wall Street analysts and the media in the process.
Ego
On the flip side of humility lies ego. Ego is the sense of self we've created in conjunction with our environment and family of origin. I like to use a model illustrating the spectrum of ego involvement in our lives from humility to self-importance. In the middle of this spectrum, we find a healthy ego.
A healthy ego propels us into the future. It provides confidence for us to lead and to execute bold initiatives. Ego becomes a problem when we are no longer mindful of our actions and wander over into feeling self-important. It is at this point that a leader runs amok with lavish spending, exhortations and an addiction to media devotion.
Kentucky has seen its share of excess. Michael Gobb, executive director of the Bluegrass airport, and several of his subordinates went on personal spending sprees with the airport picking up the tab in 2007 and 2008. The Kentucky League of Cities saw excessive spending, salaries and bonuses under the direction of Sylvia Lovely during the latter half of the last decade.
Individuals in these powerful positions generally do not begin their tenure with such an attitude. As their successes build, they frequently feel entitled to excessive perks, justifying them based on the value they've brought to the organization. The key to maintaining a healthy ego balance is mindfulness, the ability to objectively observe your emotions and reactions as difficult situations arise.
As our lead-in story illustrates, power plays a role here. Many forms of power exist, including positional power, the power to reward or punish, and influential power. At one extreme, Machiavellianism, or powerful, cynical leadership, is the willingness to use force or any other means of coercion to achieve a goal. On the opposite end of the scale lies influential or personal power.
Returning to Sally and Fred, it is clear that they are at opposite ends of the power spectrum, and in terms of their orientation to humility. It is your job as a leader to make an assessment of your role in each situation. How much of a role is your ego playing? Are you open to the opinions of others? Are you willing to admit when you've made a mistake?
In the end, remember that you are the leader, and your team will respect you more if they feel that you are one of them, another member of the team. The alternative, attempting to maintain an aura of infallibility, only sets you upon a pedestal - with farther to fall.
Joel DiGirolamo heads the firm Turbocharged Leadership and can be found on the web at www.turbochargedleadership.com.