Confident yet & Humble

When in decision-making meetings, argue as if you’re right, but listen as if you believe you’re wrong.

When in conflict with team members, be willing to lose a few battles to win the war. Predetermine what “hills you are willing to die on.”

Remain teachable in new contexts, even from those under your care. Don’t let your confidence prevent you from improving your own ideas.

Refuse to cross the line between confidence and cockiness. Confidence believes you can do the job. Cockiness believes it will be easy.

Don’t confuse confidence with certainty. You’ll frequently have to take action without certainty as a leader. Even when uncertain, remain clear and transparent.

Don’t let humility become sheepishness. When we’re sheepish, we are self-conscious, preoccupied with our own weakness. This keeps us from progress.

As you meet with teammates, you must know what you don’t know and trust in what you do. Be clear on the difference of the two.

If you possess a strong ego on the job, take time to list your shortcomings and mistakes. Remind yourself of your humanity by reviewing these regularly.

When tempted to boast about what you have achieved, instantly turn your focus to a team member and brag about them. Let someone else do your boasting.

-Contributed by Dr. Tim Elmore, Founder/CEO of Growing Leaders

… and remember, humility doesn’t mean weakness. Humility makes your confidence believable. When you demonstrate humility, you communicate credibility. Humility signals self-awareness and authenticity.

“Humility leads to strength and not to weakness. It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them.”
-John J. McCloy

“I had no vision of the scope of what I would start. But I had confidence that as long as we did our work well and we were good to our customers, there would be no limit to us.”
-Sam Walton