Servant Leadership is based on humility. It means killing the egotistical, self–‐centred person inside all of us who wants to be comforted, petted and admired. 10) Humility is the heart of a leader and leading with humility is seen as the opposite of leading with pride and arrogance. 11) The Question is, can humility be good for business and for the individual?
Servant Leadership is said to bring many benefits which is why a humble approach in life serves not only others but also oneself. Some of the worlds most respected and admired leaders –Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King And Mother Theresa All share a strong sense of humility and ethics where they have dedicated themselves to improve the world. They are seen as the good forces of the world, but why are not all leaders acting in this way if this is the right leadership model?
It is important to be aware that the road to righteousness and arrogance is a parallel road that can intersect each other several times throughout a person’s life. It’s often hard to recognize one road from another. What makes them different is the road to righteousness is paved with the love of humanity. The Road to arrogance is paved with the love of self. 12)
Although some businesses may not have realised it yet, social media and increasing transparency are already opening up organisations. Leaders can push their businesses to take advantage of this, but they will only reap Rewards –In the form of more effective workplaces and more satisfied customers –If they have the humility to talk less and listen more. Humility is not about abasement: it is about knowing your strengths and weaknesses, involving others and accepting that you may not always have the best solutions. Leaders can still exercise influence and judgement, but the decision–‐making process becomes more collective. 13)
However, there are still many situations in personal and corporate life where we can see arrogance winning over humility. Why is it like that? Can Arrogance be a good Thing if you want to be successful and not be perceived as weak? Many Women in corporate life can bear witness that lack of arrogance is sometimes closing doors for them while their male colleagues use a certain amount of arrogance to get higher on the ranks. That Does not necessarily mean that the men are better than the women, it only means that in some circles, arrogance is seen as positive and equals self–‐ confidence. Thinking Back to Coco Chanel’s quote above, she used arrogance in order to succeed in a very competitive environment.
When It comes to humility, it is not that easy or obvious to tell who shows true humility and when thinking honestly of what about humility really means, one realize that there are very few true humble people out there. Maybe because it is so difficult to sacrifice yourself to serve others, as it often means doing things that does not automatically gain yourself?
Today’s World is a tough place and one needs a certain amount of self–‐confidence to survive. To Talk about your achievements and be proud of them should not automatically have to be seen as bragging and arrogance. At The same time humility is important for us to live better lives and improve the lives of others. They both serve each other and we need to create a good balance and understand the impact they have on others.
Coaching application
As A coach you can help your client by bringing awareness about what arrogance, confidence and humility is and the effect it has on others and the society. You can discuss how the client sees him/herself and how their ideal image would be.
©2012 Copyright Rosie Kropp. Cannot be duplicated without permission from the author.
References and sources:
Dictionary.com
Wikipedia: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_arrogant_mean#ixzz1wLCOiKBz
The Law Of Jante From Wikipedia
Confidence: www.communicationconfidence.com/confidence–‐vs–‐arrogance.html
Inner Frontier: Cultivating spiritual presence
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humility
Wiki Answers, http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_humility
Yahoo answers,
Can humility, faith be good for business? By Stone Phillips, NBC News
“Humility, The core of Servant Leadership”, Harry Joiner
“Humility, The heart of a leader” Katherine A. Patterson, PhD. School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship
Quotes for the Journey, Shannon L. Alder
Nicholas Ind, “Humble Leaders”