The turtle and the strawberry
Find a way to visually represent who you are.
These were the instructions given to me a couple of weeks ago by my coach, Mary Beth Robles, as part of The Coaching Fellowship (a three month professional coaching fellowship for young women of impact).
I found a range of different images and quotes; things I searched for and printed and visuals that I found as I rifled through some old magazines and newspapers that were lying around. The meaning of so many of them was really obvious… except for this image:
I really didn’t know why I chose it and it took a bit of time to unravel what drew me to it. There was something about ‘keeping things in context’, about understanding the whole picture, about putting myself (the turtle) in a real frame of reference, about constantly realising my relative size in the world.
In a word, humility.
Perhaps originally stemming from being a sufferer of ‘tall poppy syndrome’ (a somewhat usual occurrence in Australia), over time (and through experiences such as with The Coaching Fellowship) I have come to acknowledge and grow into my humility and recognise it as a core part of my leadership style and presence. I feel a deep connection between humility, service, empathy and purpose.
It has taken time (and is a continued work in progress) to shed layers of self-criticism that are associated with my own humility — that self talk that tells you that being humble means people will step all over you, steal your credit and use and abuse your nature (among many other things).
I am slowly unlearning this association and was really validated in owning this part of my identity after reading this Washington Post article on the power of humble leaders. According to this article, here are some traits of humble leaders:
- Constant desire to learn and improve
- Willing to admit limitations and mistakes
- Embrace ambiguity and the unknown
- Build connections. More helpful, tolerant, sensitive and accepting of difference
- Prioritise success of organisation over own success. Celebrates colleagues’ success over own
- Disperse power through more diverse management teams
“Importantly, humility doesn’t weaken leaders’ authority. It gives them more flexibility in how they use their power.”
Although I may still be far from embodying all of these traits personally right now, it certainly resonates with many of my thoughts and actions to date.
When you put it this way, being a humble leader definitely sounds pretty powerful.
Would love to hear about your experiences as a humble leader.
