The Strength of Humility in Leadership | Ep. 12 | The Science of Leadership

In this episode of @TheScienceofLeadership, Tom and Justin discuss the importance of humility in leadership. They define humility as an accurate assessment of one's characteristics, an ability to acknowledge limitations and strengths, and a low self-focus. They share personal examples of individuals who demonstrate humility in their leadership. They also explore why humility is often viewed as a weakness and debunk this misconception by highlighting the positive impact of humility on commitment, trust, creativity, engagement, and more. They provide practical tips for cultivating humility, including self-reflection, seeking feedback, practicing active listening, admitting mistakes, and practicing gratitude.

Key concepts include humility, leadership, character, self-reflection, feedback, active listening, admitting mistakes, and gratitude.

Takeaways

• Humility is an essential characteristic of effective leadership and is interconnected with other leadership qualities such as character, competence, caring, and communication.

• Humility is not a weakness but a strength that fosters trust, psychological safety, and better performance in teams.

• Practical ways to cultivate humility include practicing self-reflection, seeking feedback, practicing active listening, admitting mistakes, and practicing gratitude.

• Humility is important in leadership because it allows leaders to care for others, communicate effectively, and make better decisions.

• Humility is not thinking less of oneself but thinking of oneself less.

Sound Bites

• "Humility is a sneaky trait that we don't talk about."

• "Humility is a multi-dimensional construct comprising an accurate assessment of one's characteristics, an ability to acknowledge limitations and strengths, and a low self-focus."

• "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less."

Key References

Argandoña, A. (2015). Humility in management. Journal of Business Ethics, 132(1), 63-71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2311-8

Kelemen, T. K., Matthews, S. H., & Matusik, S. F. (2022). Revisiting humility: The bright and dark sides of leader humility for employee creativity. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43(1), 23-39. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2608

Luo, Y., Zhang, Z., Chen, Q., Zhang, K., Wang, Y., Peng, J (2022). Humble leadership and its outcomes: a meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 13:980322. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.980322

Morris, J. A., Brotheridge, C. M., & Urbanski, J. C. (2005). Bringing humility to leadership: Antecedents and consequences of leader humility. Human Relations, 58(10), 1323-1350. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726705059929

Nielsen, R., Marrone, J. A., & Slay, H. S. (2010). A new look at humility: Exploring the humility concept and its role in socialized charismatic leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 17(1), 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051809350892

Owens, B. P., & Hekman, D. R. (2012). Modeling how to grow: An inductive examination of humble leader behaviors, contingencies, and outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 55(4), 787-818. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.0441

Owens, B. P., Johnson, M. D., & Mitchell, T. R. (2013). Expressed humility in organizations: Implications for performance, teams, and leadership. Academy of Management Journal, 56(4), 1083-1108. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0795

Tangney, J. P. (2000). Humility: Theoretical perspectives, empirical findings and directions for future research. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19(1), 70-82. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2000.19.1.70

Vera, D., & Rodriguez-Lopez, A. (2004). Strategic virtues: Humility as a source of competitive advantage. Organizational Dynamics, 33(4), 393-408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2004.09.006