Recently, I was adamant with a few team members that I was right regarding a situation that had caused some drama behind the scenes. I was even taking the moral high ground. Then after a leader confronted me with another perspective, I realized it was me who was wrong.
Shocking? No. I am a human. But it was shocking to me how sure I was that I was right—and then how sure I was that I was wrong. It is rare that I experience such a stark change in perspective at this speed. The moral of the story for me was since we are not all-knowing, we should be all-humble.
The problem with real humility is that when we grow as leaders, we get good. Many times, really good. We even become coaches and mentors, creating a steady track record of success. We rarely miss the mark, so in our mind we habitually assume we are right—all the time—because most of the time we seem to be right. Then, you know what comes next? A humbling experience, like I recently had.
Could I become so good as a leader that I never falter? No. Because while we may know 10,000 principles of leadership wisdom, the next challenge we encounter may require a principle we have not yet learned yet—the 10,001st principle. Since without knowing this theoretical 10,001st principle we could lose everything, we should stay humble, vigilant, and always looking to learn, always asking:
- Could I be wrong on this?
- God, what am I missing?
- God, please place people in my life who I can submit to and ask for counsel.
- God, regardless of my success, help me remember, I am not all-knowing.
I pray my lesson in humility inspires you and I to keep seeking God, particularly when we ‘know’ we are right.
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