{"id":13062,"date":"2020-02-24T01:11:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T01:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/948294437a.nxcli.io\/?p=13062"},"modified":"2020-03-30T11:23:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T11:23:08","slug":"why-without-humility-we-fail-to-accomplish-what-matters-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/24\/why-without-humility-we-fail-to-accomplish-what-matters-most\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Lessons in Humility"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Why We Fail to Accomplish What Matters Most<\/span><\/h1>\n

There are many attributes that simply make us better people, regardless of our role or station in life. Being a “better person” speaks to who we are. And who we “are” tends to be more important than what we do. In fact, who we are informs what we do in guiding how we feel, what we think about and the habits of thinking that inform our beliefs and values. There is no certainty that being a “good person” will make you a successful in life, or that without any particular characteristics you cannot be successful, but without humility the chances of failing at our pursuits significantly increases.<\/p>\n

Humility is what allows us to see the world both as it is and how it could be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Humility gives us perspective and enables us to see ourselves as part of something larger and more important. A sense of duty to others or to a cause requires this kind of perspective. And the need for humility is agnostic to our being either a leader or a follower: it is actually the glue that holds the two roles together.<\/p>\n

Humility tends to underscore the things that make us a “good” person. It is a quality that modifies everything else we are and tends to separate the most competent and accomplished people from the rest of us.<\/p>\n

For those familiar with Boy Scouting, the Scout Law lends a good description to the qualities that give guidance to the kind of character we might aspire to have in order to be the kind of person we need to be in order to best succeed in life:<\/p>\n

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  • Trustworthy<\/li>\n
  • Loyal<\/li>\n
  • Helpful<\/li>\n
  • Friendly<\/li>\n
  • Courteous<\/li>\n
  • Kind<\/li>\n
  • Obedient<\/li>\n
  • Cheerful<\/li>\n
  • Thrifty<\/li>\n
  • Brave<\/li>\n
  • Clean<\/li>\n
  • Reverent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Yet without humility we might be all these things and still not be the kind of person we need or ought to be to accomplish what matters most.<\/p>\n

    The question here is, how are apt to fail without humility?<\/p>\n

    These three reasons begin to explain why:<\/p>\n

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    1. Humility is what allows us to be true “Learning Beings,” meaning that we are willing to be wrong and therefor open to discovery. We must accept that we don’t know before we can learn what we must know. It was Epictetus who suggested “it is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.” Learning beings are adaptable, able to change and grow. “Knowing Beings” get comfortable in certainty and their rigidity becomes their ultimate weakness and cause for failing.<\/li>\n
    2. Humility is necessary in order to be guided by a real sense of purpose. Most successful people find that rather than having a sense of purpose, that purpose or cause seems to have them. An unshakable purpose is one that has it’s teeth and talons in us so deep we cannot shake free no matter how hard we might try. When we are led by such a purpose we find our inner strength. We learn what we need to learn in order to make it possible to accomplish what is necessary. And we learn to make possible all things that are necessary. People who choose to adopt or concoct a purpose that serves themselves will sacrifice little and seek comfort in their own interests. Without discomfort there is no growth and without growth we cannot thrive in anything we aspire to accomplish. Ultimately without a strong or deep sense of purpose we are likely to fail.<\/li>\n
    3. Humility is the foundation for effective leadership. Every human being is a natural-born leader. Unlike any other living being on Earth, we determine how we will lead our own life. Many of us find ourselves leading others in our chosen or appointed roles. As parents, friends, citizens or leaders, our leadership is needed and tested. Humility is what makes it possible for us to be efficacious in our leadership. To be effective and efficient we must be conscientious and competent. We need to be exemplars of the behaviors and qualities we want to and need to see in others. And we must care so ruthlessly about others as to demand their full competence and realize their fullest and even expanding potentials. When leaders live in the hubris of believing it is they that are the reason others follow (as opposed to some worthy cause or purpose), and ignore the fact that it is the organization that makes the leader successful and not the other way around, they invariably fail.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Humility is the great amplifier of all human potential.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      It may seem that those who are self-absorbed in their talents or power are at the top of their class. But it is only those who are never fully satisfied, always reaching for better and constantly seeking to improve that become the true virtuosos at anything meaningful. How is it even possible to succeed at anything meaningful in life without humility?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

      \n
      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Why We Fail to Accomplish What Matters Most There are many attributes that simply make us better people, regardless of our role or station in life. Being a “better person” speaks to who we are. And who we “are” tends to be more important than what we do. In fact, who we are informs what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership-matters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13062"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13065,"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13062\/revisions\/13065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}