Humility: A Source of True Strength
Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church for the past 15 years, died last week. I am not Catholic, and don't consider myself particularly religious, but certainly value spirituality as a worldly connector. When listening to reports on the tone and legacy of the Pope’s leadership, clearly evident and consistently stated was his deep sense of humility.
The Pope chose not to live in the opulence of the Papal residence, but instead in a starkly appointed one bedroom apartment in the Vatican guesthouse; he drove in simple vehicles; he washed and kissed the feet of non-Christians; and in death, he wanted a simple wooden casket placed on the back of a trunk, and to be buried in Saint Mary’s Basilica, not the traditional pontiff burial place.
Pope Francis believed that humility is the key to help bring peace to the world. He called humility the “great antagonist of the most mortal of sins, namely arrogance,” and believed that “humility restores everything to its correct dimension; we are wonderful creatures, but we are limited, with qualities and flaws.” His humbleness, stemming from his valuing and respecting for everyone, was essential to his leadership style.
There’s a plethora of leadership lessons we can take from the grace of the Pope Francis’s humility. Those might include:
A diminished sense of self-importance;
An appreciation for the dignity and worth of others; and
A modesty regarding our contributions and place in the world
I wrote the post below three years ago to illustrate how and why humility should be considered an essential part of our leadership qualities. This is a good time to reshare it.
A Beautiful Lesson in Humility
I’ve loved the art of dance since grade school. The command of a dancer’s body, the strength, the grace, the freedom and ability to move in such rhythmic beauty—I was totally enraptured and envisioned myself onstage moving with the same joy and fluidity. For the past week, I’ve been on the verge of purchasing tickets to see an upcoming performance of Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE at the Joyce Theater. The elegance of his choreography captures you with the bold, pulsing rhythms of African and Afro-Cuban movement—Greg and I particularly love “Grace,” a piece created for the Alvin Ailey Dance American Company. So, it was with surprise and sorrow that I read, in this past Sunday’s New York Times, about Brown’s heart-wrenching journey back from a debilitating stroke last year.
Since the stroke, Brown has been learning to use his body again, not to dance, but to walk and use his arm. Imagine, a choreographer not being able to show his dancers how he wants them to move—to demonstrate how to tell the story of the dance. Brown says that it was his “beautiful lesson in humility.” He trusted that his dancers would bring the dance to life as he described what the movement should look like—what it should evoke. His body didn’t need to be at the center of the creative process for the work to take shape. Fortunately, Brown’s healing is progressing well, and the therapists are encouraged by his resilience and determination. The upcoming performances will reveal the depth of Brown’s humility in bringing new art to the stage.
Mandela on Humility
When Nelson Mandela came to the Oprah Winfrey show in 2000, he asked one of the producers, “What is the subject of today’s show?” Oprah and the audience had a good laugh at his question as Oprah told them that the producer’s response was “You—Nelson Mandela.” When asked how he remains such a man of peace, Mandela said:
Humility is one of the most important qualities which you must have. If you are humble. If you make people realize that you are no threat to them then people will embrace you. They will listen to you.
We need only turn on the news to see the monumental display of lack of humility in a current world leader—Vladmir Putin. During an interview with Ari Melber on The Beat, former Russian Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev was asked if there isn’t someone that could tell Putin that he needed to course correct, that he is wrong. Kozyrev said that a tyrant like Putin would rather be overthrown and led out at gun point than be told that he was wrong— a stunning case of toxic hubris.
Both Brown and Mandela embody what Positive Psychology says is an attitude of spiritual modesty that comes from understanding our place in the larger order of things. A sense of humility requires that we not take our desires, successes, or failings too seriously. Based on a caring, compassionate attitude toward others, humility exhibits sincerity, honesty, and unselfishness.
Humility is also about knowing ourselves. As we recognize the gaps in our knowledge, humility is a way to embrace continual self-correction and self-improvement. Intimately connected to our learning, humility is indicative of our ability to be empathetic leaders.
Humility is our mechanism for maintaining balance with the people around us and in our world. As a character strength, humility can be viewed as the opposite of pride, arrogance, and an inflated sense of our importance and talents. It is a path through which we demonstrate respect for others.
