"If Humility Is So Important, Why Are Leaders So Arrogant?"

By Bill Taylor

Harvard Business Review, Oct. 15, 2018

https://hbr.org/2018/10/if-humility-is-so-important-why-are-leaders-so-arrogant

*****

Thanks to Bill Taylor for attempting to answer something that’s always bugged me.

In his piece, Taylor draws on the work of Edgar Schein, who identifies three forms of humility. The first, “the humility that we feel around elders and dignitaries,” Taylor says is a basic part of social life. The second, “the humility we feel in the presence of those who awe us with their achievements,” he says is a standard part of professional life. The third, “here-and-now” humility, Taylor describes as “the most rarely observed in business” … and this is where I thought his piece got really interesting.

According to Taylor, Schein describes “here-and-now” humility as “how I feel when I am dependent on you.” “My status is inferior to yours at this moment because you know something or can do something that I need in order to accomplish some task or goal… I have to be humble because I am temporarily dependent on you. [But] I also have a choice. I can either not commit to tasks that make me dependent on others, or I can deny the dependency, avoid feeling humble, fail to get what I need, and, thereby, fail to accomplish the task or unwittingly sabotage it. Unfortunately, people often would rather fail than to admit their dependence on someone else.”

This insight has fascinating and potentially powerful implications. Looking inward, it’s a great way to challenge oneself: am I giving in to an understandable but counter-productive desire to avoid dependence? Perhaps more importantly, this insight can help unpack the dynamics between leaders and those around them — particularly when those around them are women, minorities, or others on whom they may feel particularly uncomfortable being dependent.