Humble Leadership
Part 1 of the 6 part series of the Humble Leadership Pathway on the Hive Learning Hub
Source; Hive Learning Hub
Which traits do you think is the most important in leadership?
- Confidence
- Humility
- Empathy
- Bravery
- Strength
- Something else?
This pathway is centred around humility being a crucial part of successful leadership. But when we think of leaders, "humble" might not be the first word that springs to mind. Brilliant, confident and courageous are traits we associate with successful leaders, managers and CEOs. Behaviours like humility and vulnerability are downplayed and viewed as weaknesses.
In today’s disruptive world, this is changing.
Digital disruption is dominating industries, and few companies can avoid disruptive innovation. A study from IMD pointed out that successful digital leaders have a healthy dose of humility. ScienceDirect found that humility offers a competitive advantage to leaders.
In a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world it is more important than ever that leaders build trust. It’s a paradox of leadership: we need our leaders to be humble as well as brave and confident. Otherwise, they risk losing our trust.
Here’s the good news - these traits aren’t mutually exclusive!
📺 If you have time, watch this PwC video (less than 8 minutes) which talks about the importance of the humble leader.
As Sanjay Tolia says in the video, “if you want to innovate, you need to have diverse minds”. A humble leader will actively seek opinions from others, understanding the strength of a collaborative team.
The fact is that - when given people management responsibilities - humble leaders make amazing bosses. They encourage close teamwork, their colleagues trust them and they encourage learning, both for themselves and their teammates. All this leads to higher performance.
🗝️ Your key takeaway
Humility is a vital skill that you will need to cultivate as a leader. Through this pathway, we will give you practical tips and actions to help you practice this behaviour every day.
Want to find out more?
You can continue your learning with cards 2 - 6 on the Learning Hub on Hive.
Here's what you will learn:
- The importance of humility and vulnerability in a disruptive environment
- How to show humility at work
- How a humble leader can the people around them grow
- How to be vulnerable and brave
