Humble pie: 4 ingredients for a great leadership recipe

Humility is a complicated topic. It has a lot of paradoxical features to it. You know a good paradox, right? To lead you have to serve? Youth is wasted on the young? The beginning of the end? To truly live you must be willing to die for something? The fact that I am confident enough to give people advice on humility is even a paradox of sorts.

Here's what I have discovered. Healthy, confident leaders are humble leaders. They know that their success is about the success of others. These leaders understand that it begins with them but it is not about them. Humble leaders think about themselves, but they think about others more. They know the ingredients for humble pie. 

Before I share the ingredients, I want to clear up a few things about humility. 

- Humility is not a lack of confidence. 

- Humility is not thinking less of yourself. 

- Humility is not introverted. 

- Humility is not the same as being reserved. 

Humility is often misunderstood and viewed as an attribute that runs in contradiction to our perception of leadership. Leadership has changed in a lot of ways. Dr. Tim Elmore advocates for leaders in the information age to stop being a 'sage on the stage and start being a guide by the side'. Leader's who can make this transition from sages to guides have to embrace a humble mindset. I believe this to be an effective mindset to lead in today's fast-moving times. 

Here are the real ingredients for a leader's humble pie...

Humble leaders know their weaknesses - When I conduct interviews, I often ask the question, 'what is your biggest weakness?' The goal of that question is to investigate self-awareness. I should really stop asking the question because 9 out of 10 answers are just a humble brag on something that really isn't a weakness. The answers are 'I'm too obsessed over details', or 'I can't sleep when I lose.' I don't think it is an issue with the candidates I'm interviewing. I think we all struggle to come to grips with our weaknesses. Humble leaders know their weaknesses. And how do they know them? They invite feedback from all around them, and they listen to that feedback. 

Humble leaders know that they don't know everything - You want to spot a humble (and likely good) leader? Identify someone who holds a position of authority and listen to how many questions they ask. Humble leaders are constantly searching for information, perspective, and feedback. Humble leaders know they have a responsibility to make informed decisions. The only way to make informed decisions is to gather information and one of the most effective ways to gather information is to ask questions. Here's a practical way to look at it: develop the habit of making less statements and asking more questions. It is amazing how much information and insight a leader can acquire if they just ask for it. 

Humble leaders know more and more - A question that I regularly ask other leaders when I get the chance is, 'what are you reading right now?' President Harry Truman stated that all good leaders were readers. I believe this idea can be updated just a little bit for the 21st century to include podcasts, YouTube channels, and online classes. Humble leaders never stop learning. They know that they don't know it all so they are constantly on the search to know more and more. 

Humble leaders know the success of their people - Scott Eblin, in his book 'The Next Level', presents the idea that in the information age the 'work no longer speaks for itself'. Eblin goes on to advocate for leaders to be experts in promoting the success of their people. I have found the greatest professional satisfaction and largest return on my investments as a leader by celebrating the success of the people I lead. Humble leaders know that what gets recognized gets repeated. When team members succeed, the humble leader goes crazy for them and that makes the team members want to do more and more things that get celebrated. A leader that celebrates team members is creating a win-win scenario. 

Leaders that understand and utilize these ingredients are as easy as pie to follow. 

Keep on, keepin' on, friends! 

*Bonus content: Want to dive deeper on this topic? Here are some suggestions - ‘Humility’ by CJ Mahaney, ‘The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness’ by Tim Keller, ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins

‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.

Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader with more than two decades of experience. He’s earned a few degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school sweetheart and they have three children. Life is messy and complicated most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter for inspirational thoughts and good laughs.