A Humble Guide to Humility (Part 1)

Everyone likes a person who is humble, modest and not given to blowing their own trumpet. After all, we are all far too busy to be someone’s enraptured audience as they sing their own praises. You might’ve heard this song; it begins with an ‘I’.

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Humility is a character strength i.e. inherent tendencies, qualities and typical characteristics of a person that have been historically upheld because of the value they bring to society. Every person has 24 character strengths though each one of them varies in the extent to which they are present in us. Humility, as the Positive Psychology Practice defines, is confidence in one’s own ability and an accurate estimate of it without any ego, pride or vanity. Thus, popular notions of humility are false; it does not mean being timid or subservient or quiet.

Philosophers have tackled questions pertaining to the nature of humility. It is firstly a dependent virtue. For humility to exist, there has to be something that is good. There has to be something within us or about us that is good such as our accomplishments, our intelligence, etc. Secondly, there is a difference between false and actual humility. False modesty is behavioural; there is that vain part of us that’s chuckling away in glee even as we say, “I couldn’t have done it without others.” Thus, actual humility is a state of mind and a behaviour. Lastly, saying “I am modest” is immodest. It is believed that humble people are humble without having to declare that they’re so. 

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Philosophical and abstract musings aside, humility has now started taking modest steps into workplaces. Recently, the US army added humility as a necessary attribute for leaders. They describe it as an openness to learning, feedback and input as well as accurate self-appraisal. The ability to accurately appraise ourselves is what makes humility a state of mind rather than being falsely modest.

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At the workplace, charismatic leaders often get the largest share of attention. But, humble leaders are more effective when it comes to creating a sense of harmony, in reducing absenteeism rates and in dealing with employees and overall performance.  Humility equally applies to employees. Some interviewers even look for humility in candidates by keeping an eye out for signs of arrogance such as taking credit for all successes and blaming others for failures. There are reports that Hogan Assessments is working on a psychometric tool that can assess humility.  

Moving forward, let’s take a look at the ways in which humility helps us become more efficient and productive at work: 

• It opens us up to asking for help because we are aware of our limitations. It enables us to let go of the “I’ll do it myself attitude” and seek help which in turn can make us effective.
• It improves cooperation because there is respect for other’s abilities, and facilitating others to display their skills requires an awareness of our own limitations.
• Failures truly become opportunity to learn because they are not blamed on others. We will be able to recognize our faults and where we went wrong. This helps in directing our energy towards our shortcomings to overcome them. This holds true for criticism or negative feedback as well.
• It enhances interpersonal relationships because humility engenders harmony, trust and loyalty and not constant one-upping and backstabbing due to perceived superiority.
• Humility enables us to ask questions, keep an open mind, listen to others and learn from them which can advance our knowledge.

In the next part, we’ll take a look at how we can make humility a state of mind and practice it at work. 

Deepika Gangadharan

thoughts@kaleidoscope.org.in