“We found that for leaders to make something great, their ambition has to be for the greatness of the work and the company, rather than for themselves.”

“(Great) leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless.”

 – Jim Collins

Case Study #1: Team Leader

Leader: “I struggle with delegating well.”

Myself: “What is it about delegating that you find difficult?”

Leader: “It feels wrong. I don’t want to be pushy or manipulative.”

Case Study #2: Director – Large Non-Profit

Myself: “Why don’t you communicate your organization’s successes and awards for excellence?”

Director: “It comes across as arrogant or boastful.”

Myself: “But your organization struggles with a poor reputation. (Due to issues that stopped decades ago.) If people have a choice, they go elsewhere and avoid your services.

Director: “We know. It’s awful.”

Most people struggle with knowing how to relate to humility. Perhaps it is a cultural issue. Maybe it is a weakness of the English language.

Humble ambitions suggest someone with low aspirations.

A humble job sounds like one most would prefer to avoid.

Being humbled sounds like a painful, embarrassing experience.

Who wants to be humble?

The Science of Humility and Success

Jim Collins is a researcher & author of best-selling books such as Good to Great, How the Mighty Fall and Great by Choice. He became widely popular, in part, because of his counter-intuitive research discoveries around success and humility.

Whereas most business or management books are about getting organizations to the top of the bell curve – Jim Collins is interested in Greatness. The outstanding outliers on the far-right side of the bell curve.

He found that great companies (those with the highest and consistently repeated success) were all led by the same kind of leader. These leaders were described by others as personally humble or modest and fiercely ambitious and motivated about the companies they led.

My Observations of Humility and Arrogance

In my years of consulting experience, I’ve noticed something about the leaders I’ve met.

Nearly all of them are very intelligent, creative, motivated and hard-working people. That’s the norm.

Not all of them are leading teams, organizations or efforts that could be called Great.

Some time ago, I decided that I only wanted to work with clients whom I enjoyed being around and respected.

I also wanted to only work with clients who genuinely valued and deeply care about their employees and their customers.

Last year was the first year where all my clients fit that description. It was a great year. My best and most enjoyable.

I began to notice something: As a general rule, these clients are high performers in their industries. They stand out amongst their peers.

In a local economy that is down, most are projecting growth. They usually experience high employee engagement and retention.

If they aren’t great yet, greatness is an option for them.

Upon reflection, these companies have leaders who demonstrate the characteristics of the “modest and willful, humble and fearless” leader that Jim observed.

That isn’t to say that my clients are perfect or get it right flawlessly. But they have the desire. They push themselves to the right of the curve.

How to Discern Humble Ambition from Hubris

Whether you are reflecting on this for yourself or considering bringing someone into a more senior position of leadership watch for these common traits of Humbly Ambitious Leaders:

1. They Genuinely Enjoy Developing and Promoting the Success of Others. This might be other people within the organization. It might be other people or organizations in their community. But they get a natural kick out of someone else doing well.

2. They Confidently and Consistently Communicate the Value or Success of Their Organizations Without Needing to Compare. There is nothing wrong with communicating that you can receive great service or high-quality product from your company. It is appropriate to communicate and reinforce the value that you offer.

It only becomes hubris once you shift to being comparative. “I’m better than that person.” “Their services are inferior to ours.” “Our department is better run.”

3. They are Approachable, Open to Feedback and Ask for Feedforward. “Approachable,” doesn’t mean setting up an open-door policy. Most leaders who tell me they have an open-door policy will also tell me that few people walk through the door.

If you have to tell someone that you can be approached, you probably aren’t approachable.

Most people feel your approachableness. Or the lack thereof.

Humbly Ambitious leaders are experienced as approachable and are willing to listen without deflection, excuses or minimization to feedback (both negative and positive.)

The best will take it the next step further and ask, “How can I improve on that next time?” or “What was it that made the experience positive for you?”

Then they know how to serve even better.

They don’t see it only as being criticized or praised. Not that none of that matters. But these leaders make it about improving their ability to serve.

4. They Are Transparent & Authentic About Their Growth Journey. The best leaders I know want growth, pursue growth and fail along the way.

They recognize it is a journey – not just Win or Fail. They don’t see themselves or others as “All Good” or “All Bad.” They recognize that they, like everyone else is an often-confusing mix.

However, they desire and pursue growth. They develop acceptance and comfort in this and use their own story as an encouragement and tool for others.

When selecting senior leadership, choose leaders who demonstrate the four behaviors above. They will naturally grow, inspire others and pursue the success of the organization.

If you recognize that you’d like to grow in one of these areas, develop a plan for growth and follow through. Being able to be Humbly Ambitious is the differentiator of great leaders from everyone else.

This is part of a series called 12 Key Traits to Look For When Building Your Dream Team. To read more click here.

Would You Like to Lead a Great Team or Consistently High-Performing Organization?

Do you care about the success of your organization? Do you want to excel? Do you care about the people you lead and the people you provide services to? Would you like to offer them consistently great services?

If your answer is YES, then I have something for you. I have a few slots in my calendar to speak with you 1-on-1 about the best practices to build a strong leadership team through your own personal growth.

On the call, I’ll share with you 3 practical & specific strategies you can use to practically pursue personal growth and will help you increase team performance and personal impact.

Email me at Christian@vantageconsulting.org or call me at 907 522-7200.

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