by Colleen McCarty, VP Talent & Organization Development

It was recently my great pleasure to receive an unexpected package in the mail. My colleague, Amy Keuper, had attended a conference and was moved by several of the speakers. So moved that she thought of me and sent 3 books representing her favorite conference topics. Delighted, but busy, I chose the smallest book to read first: Humilitas: A Lost Key to Life, Love, and Leadership by John Dickson.

What did I learn?

• Humility is not low self-esteem or being a doormat for others. The author defines humility as “the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself.” The author argues that being humble does not preclude holding strong convictions nor is it incompatible with a healthy sense of your own worth and abilities. Rather it is the absence of an overbearing ego or insistence on one’s own rightness which encourages respect from others and a sense of credibility.
• Humility allows honest reflection and encourages learning. Those who think they know everything are not open to learning anything new. When you can reflect on and discuss, honestly, what went right and what went wrong then you can find improvement.
• Humility is not necessarily visible. Look around you, are there amazing leaders exhibiting humility in your world? Don’t think only of the largest or fastest growing company you know, for while it seems counter-intuitive, if we remember that humility is putting the good of others first, then that humble leader could be in an organization or position that is operating smoothly but not flashily. It is probably someone highly credible whose team delivers superior performance. It could be someone in a non-profit organization, religious group, a coach, or a youth leader.

An easy read about various great leaders and history, this book has generated thoughts that continue to stick with me raising provoking implications for my own life and prompting comparisons, both flattering and not so, between the global players in the world’s economy, politics, and business and the notion of humility described in these pages.