As many of you know, we’ve launched a Humble for President campaign, a non-partisan, grassroots movement calling on this nation’s next president—and all leaders and citizens—to adopt a new spirit of humility: an unvarnished virtue that has the potential to transform not only our politics, but our everyday lives and leadership. We need secure, confident, humble leaders. Below are 10- traits of humble presidents (spread the word and SHARE THIS with others).
1. Humble Presidents Lead by Listening.
While they are decisive, they take into consideration the ideas and feelings of others.
2. Humble Presidents Never Stop Learning.
Since they are secure enough to listen to others and consider alternative opinions, humble leaders are characterized by their marked ability to be perpetual learners. They learn about themselves, about friends and opponents, about issues and ideas.
3. Humble Presidents Don’t Seek Power; It Seeks Them.
They’re not constantly seeking out more power. Instead, they seek more people to serve. More influence and more power follows. But not because they’re seeking it out.
4. Humble Presidents Unite—They Don’t Divide.
They’re consensus builders. They care about team unity more than about accomplishing their objectives.
5. Humble Presidents Delegate.
Prideful leaders are focused on proving themselves. Along the way, they tend not to trust those around them to be able to come alongside them and help them achieve that goal. What’s more, they’re not willing to acknowledge their weaknesses in the process, so they never delegate.
6. Humble Presidents Forgive.
It’s as simple as that.
7. Humble Presidents Admit Mistakes.
All leaders make mistakes. Humble leaders own up to them and learn from them. Prideful leaders? Not so much.
8. Humble Presidents Separate Themselves From the Office They Occupy
When presidents begin to derive their identity from the office they hold, they began to undergo a subtle but dangerous shift. As Harry S. Truman said: “I always made the distinction between the office of the President and the person of the President. That may seem to some a fine distinction, but I am glad I made it. Otherwise I might be suffering today from the same kind of ‘importance’ complex that some people have come down with.”
9. Humble Presidents Pull—Not Push—Their Team Members.
Because they recognize their limits acting alone, they invest in and rely on their followers to contribute to their cause or their mission.
10. Humble Presidents Pursue Causes Greater Than Themselves.
Though it might sound counterintuitive, humble leaders are ambitious people. Their ambition, however, is not selfish ambition but a drive to accomplish something for a cause greater than their own success. It’s a dynamic that business guru and leadership expert Jim Collins observes in his book Good to Great. The best companies, Collins notes, have leaders who “are ambitious about the cause, the company, the work—not [themselves].”
Question:
How have you seen these traits play out in those who lead you? How many of these traits do you possess? Leave a comment below.
