Humble leadership

Bosses like to lead – but what do you miss while you’re doing the talking?

For many leaders, problem-solving generally goes something like this: your team member brings you a problem – and you leap in with the answer. This makes you feel good, because you are using your experience and expertise, and your team member gets their direction. It feels efficient.

But according to Professor Edgar Schein of MIT, this type of ‘hero’ leadership has its limitations. What might you have missed? What perspective could that team member have added? Had they spotted something you didn’t know about?

For an organisation to thrive, it is not enough just to hire smart people. You need to encourage them to share their knowledge. Schein says that in traditional leadership structures based on static hierarchy, junior workers hold back too often, reluctant to say something that might make them look bad.

That’s why hero leadership needs to give way to what Schein calls ‘humble’ leadership, which encourages multiple perspectives. Leaders need to build trust to facilitate more open communication.

This, says Professor Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School, creates a culture of “psychological safety” in which people feel comfortable speaking up. Her research shows workplaces like this are ultimately more successful; less is missed and mistakes are reported quickly. It can make the difference between a strong business performance and a headline-grabbing failure.

And most importantly, wouldn’t you rather lead an organisation where everyone knows they can say what they think?

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Image credit: Piero Zagami and Michela Nicchiotti.