Humility

I love this attribute about leaders, employees, teammates, family, friends – you name it, I am drawn to humble people. And I bet most of you reading this are as well. The best leaders are humble leaders. They are generous, great listeners, and know their strengths and weaknesses.

“Humility is the true key to success. Successful people lose their way at times. They often embrace and overindulge from the fruits of success. Humility halts this arrogance and self-indulging trap. Humble people share the credit and wealth, remaining focused and hungry to continue the journey of success.”  – Rick Pitino

So how do we add a little more humility into our lives? Use humility to be more effective in these three ways:

1. LISTEN

Humble leaders are open to the opinions of the ones around them. They seek input and guidance from their teammates and others. They then assess the input and strive for the betterment of the team. Nobody holds the keys to all the answers, and if you think you do, it is probably time to reassess.

2. TEND TO OTHERS

Humble leaders look out for the best interest of others. Team morale and performance is greater when team members believe their leaders are looking out for their best interest. Truly caring about the environment of the team and able to extend genuine grace when needed.

3. ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY

No one is perfect! Humble leaders don’t let success go to their head, and they don’t get stuck on their failures. Rather than putting the blame on their “team”, they assume responsibility by owning their part. Humble leaders gain the trust of their team members by sharing missteps, how to deal with them and recover from them.