"A CULTURE OF HUMILITY"

Leaders are responsible for culture. It is up to the leader to set the pace by creating an environment where team members serve, not for themselves but for the good of the team and for one another. The following are attitudes that each leader must demonstrate to create a culture of humility and servant leadership. 

​MODESTY 
In His landmark book, Good to Great, Jim Collins identifies Level 5 Leaders. He explains how these leaders are common to the most successful corporations in the US. Rather than being highly charismatic people who drive the organization by the force of their personality and seem to have all the answers, the Level 5 Leader is marked by modesty. He writes, “Level 5 Leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. It’s not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious—but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.” These leaders may be strong and even forceful, but they are known more for their meekness. 

TEACHABILITY 
Teachability is the capacity to “esteem others better than yourself” (Phil.2:3) and “receive instruction” from them (Prov. 10:17). The proud person believes that he has greater gifts, more experience and better skills than those around him and therefore has no need to listen to or esteem others. But the teachable spirit is willing to admit, “I don’t have all the answers.” This is a foundational element of trustworthy leadership. It means the leader must never be so arrogant and high minded that he is beyond correction. Trustworthy leaders are collegial. They can be instructed, they can be taught; they can be corrected or rebuked. And because they are teachable, they will be wise. 

SUBMISSION 
No matter how high in position a person may be, no matter how great their authority or position, no one is beyond needing counsel or even being corrected. Leaders, like anyone else, must know when to submit. Let’s be clear, submission is not agreement. Anyone can submit when he or she is in agreement with their leader.  True submission is demonstrated, not in times of agreement, but in seasons of disagreement.  It is one’s ability to resist that surge of disagreement rising in one’s heart—it is that discipline to quell an impulse of assertiveness against another’s criticism, advice or counsel that proves true submission and the presence of real humility 

UNITY 
Most leadership teams have an inclination toward either trust or suspicion. Boards that are unhealthy and dysfunctional act like watchdogs, making sure no one “gets away” with anything. As a result these teams are made up of adversarial relationships believing their role is to protect the organization from other inept or corrupt leaders. Sadly, any organization rises or falls on the strength of the relationships that make it up—especially on the leadership team. Leadership teams that lack unity and collegiality are doomed to fail. 

ACCOUNTABILITY 
David Watson wrote, “Anything that is subject to human limitation or error requires the collegial presence of another person to ensure responsibility. It is a fact of life. Human frailty demands our need for accountability. People are not always so upright that they just naturally do what they should. Structures will always be needed to ensure that people carry out their responsibilities. People fall short, they forget. They get sidetracked and lose interest. They slack off and just plain shirk their responsibilities. This is why accountability is needed.  

Leaders are responsible for culture. It is up to the leader to create a culture where modesty, teachability, submission, unity and accountability are norms for all – and preserve the trust of leadership.

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