{"id":38989,"date":"2024-10-21T21:30:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T04:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38989"},"modified":"2024-10-21T21:30:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T04:30:48","slug":"humility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/humility\/","title":{"rendered":"Humility"},"content":{"rendered":"

The week before we flew to Washington D.C. for our third Doctoral Advance, I was praying about my project while standing in the kitchen willing time to just stand still. With my hands open, I released to God the details of my final project until after October 2. \u00a0The next day I received a phone call from a CEO of a local retirement community asking me to step into the mediation\/conflict-resolution consultant role for two months to help his ten executive leaders. Knowing the doctoral project work that was before me, I agreed to the work if he and his team were open to me using my research paradigm.[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The CEO, Bill, agreed. I hung up with relief of God\u2019s timely provision. I could hardly wait to apply my shiny new research paradigm to a real conflict situation in a team setting\u2013I just needed to pull up my working definition of humility\u2013or should I say the dizzying number of historical definitions of humility I discovered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Does Being a Humble Leader Mean Knowing How to Build Relationships?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Peter Schein, a strategy consultant in Silicon Valley and Edgar Schein, an MIT scholar and author of several books on organizational theory, are a father\/son team who founded the Organizational Culture and Leadership Institute. Before co-authoring\u00a0Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness and Trust<\/span>\u00a0with Peter, Edgar wrote\u00a0Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking instead of Telling<\/span>\u00a0in 2013 where he tells the story of how he truly learned the art of helping others as a consultant: he realized his job was not to tell or give advice but to come alongside others with the attitude:\u00a0We are here to learn together.<\/span>[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>In the book we are reading this week, however, Edgar and Peter Schein explore how building personal relationships and trust gives way to leadership that enables better information flow and self-management.<\/span><\/p>\n

The book\u2019s 30,000 foot theme is that humble leadership can drive transformation by creating awareness of new possibilities and inspiring the team to pursue something new and different.<\/span><\/p>\n

What’s the Job of A Humble Leader ?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I am sure it must have felt intrusive for Bill\u2019s executive team to find out at their next meeting that because of their interpersonal conflict, someone was coming in to help resolve their conflict. My first job was to meet with each leader one on one. \u00a0I was aware enough to start asking each one questions and listen. Then the hard work began.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s only been two and a half weeks of working with the leadership team yet already I am learning humility in real time\u2013and this learning is fulfilling my project with genuine connection, observation, and personal relationships. \u00a0Leading with Conflict-Informed Humility is the foundation of my doctoral project and in this post, I reflect on what it means for me to help, teach or train something \u201cnew and better,\u201d[3]<\/a><\/sup> in humility.\u00a0 But honestly, it didn’t start with me pulling out my shiny, new research paradigm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before I met individually with the executive leaders, I envisioned my role and responsibility as someone close to a private investigator, someone a bit mysterious who could coyly ask questions while I expertly shared my new found discoveries on how to walk through conflict with humility. \u00a0This imaginary role suited me because it gave me a degree of academic curiosity while I maintained a teacher\u2019s stance. \u00a0Questions like, \u201cWhat tone do I use in my questions?\u201d \u201cShould I create a laminated 4 x 6 card with the points I want to make about identifying the type of conflict we face?\u201d \u00a0Or my favorite, \u201cShould I recite my new definition of humility at the end of each interview?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, the moment I started the one on one meetings with each leader, I realized how limited I was in my perspective and approach. God had certainly been preparing me for this work for many years and perhaps even calling me to be a leader but I wasn\u2019t just to wear my teacher or mediator hat\u2013He was calling me to embed humility into relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Our Definition of Humility?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Since immersing myself in the language and land of humility,\u00a0I\u2019ve discovered many attempts to define humility and more often than not, we simply misunderstand what humility is. \u00a0The primary word for humility comes from the Latin word, humilitas, which can be translated as humble, grounded or from the earth, since it derives from \u201chumus\u201d or earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Augustine reminds us that \u201calmost the whole of Christian teaching is humility.\u201d<\/span>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0While the Apostle Paul tells us to do, \u201cNothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit but to count others more significant than yourselves.\u201d<\/span>[5] <\/a><\/sup>C.S. Lewis writes that \u201cA humble person will not be thinking about humility, he will not be thinking about himself at all.\u201d<\/span>[6]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0While John J. McCloy observes that,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cHumility leads to strength and not to weakness. It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Edgar Schein and Peter Schein offer their definition of <\/span>Situational Humility: it <\/span>is a developed skill characterized by the openness to see and understand all the elements by:<\/span><\/p>\n