Leading With Humility versus Ego

Happy July to you! These past several weeks I have bee sharing great insights on what it means to lead with humility vs. EGO. Too many leaders lead from the perspective of themselves. What makes themselves look better or bigger. Or what makes them feel better about themselves. If we let our ego determine what we see, what we hear, and what we believe, we’ve let our past success damage our future success.

Humility on the other hand is an important yet under-discussed value of great leadership. Humble leaders are considered more approachable, supportive of risk taking, and willing to acknowledge others' work, which can motivate employee to share ideas and collaborate more. Yet, so many leaders default to leading by ego, which includes by force or by fear. You know you are leading by EGO when your frame of reference is "I win / You lose". Imagine what happens to an organization when strategic decisions are being made from this frame of reference! Humility helps leaders extend more compassion and empathy to others as well as consider others' beliefs and opinions resulting in deeper connections.

We are reminded that perfection is neither possible nor necessary in life. We are all simply human, and to be human is to be imperfect. Even those who claim they are perfect, are imperfect. We need to forgive ourselves for being vulnerable, for "mistakes", for missteps, and do our best to meet the next challenge in our day.

Leading with humility is about taking oneself out of the center of the equation, about keeping the spotlight on others. It's about quieting the ego so we're open to learning and we're focused on continuous improvement and growth.

What gets in your way of leading with humility? Feel free to reach out to me and let me know! Also, if you'd like to discuss how I can support you and your leadership development find some time on my calendar HERE