Mac Davis sang, “Oh Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way,” and while the song is tongue-in-cheek, it speaks to a challenge faced by today’s leaders.

Date: Apr 25, 2011          Author: Andrew Bryant

Keywords: Leadership

Mac Davis sang, “Oh Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way,” and while the song is tongue-in-cheek, it speaks to a challenge faced by today’s leaders.

To get to the top you have to be very good at what you do and let the right people see and hear about your competency; you have to have healthy self-esteem to handle the knocks and the naysayers, and this leads to a healthy dose of self-belief.

So by the time you get to a leadership position, your view of the world is likely to be that you are better than those who have not yet made it. This is seen as arrogance (an attitude of superiority or an overbearing manner), which can be the kiss-of-death for a leader as it generates resentment and enemies.

So how can a leader be humble when he or she has to be good?

Research (Tangney 2002) identifies a number of key features of humility:

1. An accurate (not underestimated) sense of one’s abilities and achievements
2. The ability to acknowledge one’s mistakes, imperfections, gaps in knowledge and limitations
3. Openness to new ideas, contradictory information and advice
4. Keeping one’s abilities and accomplishments in perspective
5. Relatively low focus on self and the ability to “forget the self”
6. Appreciation of the value of all things, as well as the many different ways that people and things can contribute to our world

Each of these attributes of humility can be practiced - alone or with the help of a coach. The alternative is to be drawn to narcissism.

The narcissist has a positive view of themselves which is fuelled by fantasising about fame and success, trying to publically outperform others, and winning admiration. Narcissists have a feeling of entitlement, that they deserve special treatment, and are focused on collecting those rewards.

The private banking culture can fuel the narcissistic personality because this type of behaviour can deliver short-term results. The price that organisations must pay is that the narcissist is hypersensitive to threats to their esteem and is likely to react with anger and aggression at any sign of disrespect. Such a culture will be low on cooperation.

Arrogant leaders are, by nature, self-centred. They believe their success is because of their own abilities and qualities. They are quick to point out the mistakes of others and rarely take the blame for anything that goes wrong. They are project killers because of their poor listening skills and their inability to see beyond themselves and their narrow views. They know best, and find it burdensome to give others the stage. Challenge them or try to draw them into a debate and watch out! You will be quickly labelled as inflexible and unwilling to accept “what is best”.

In Jim Collins’ book Good to Great, he found through surveys that humble leadership (opposite of arrogance) was one of the many leadership traits which contributed to the long-term success of organisations.

Humble leaders get involved, are willing to listen to opposing viewpoints, and have high self-esteem. They have high moral values, which causes them to be centred on doing things right for the right reasons. They energise others, and believe their talents are a gift to be kept in perspective, both in the workplace and in their personal lives.