Neohumility, the New Humility and How it Pairs with Leadership

"The condition of humility is not arrogant or prideful; it is down to earth, patient, compassionate, concerned and authentic in its sincerity" and "leaders with humility act with modesty and restraint" (Lawrence, 2006). I agree that it is a delicate balance between strength and humility without it coming across as weakness which is one of the negative connotations associated with humility. The followers who see the traid of humility as weakness and take advantage are not aware of the "gift" of humility that was bestowed upon them. Much like casting your pearl upon the swine as was written in the Bible. There is now a new term, "neohumility" that has been coined to reflect the "new humility" in leadership and business today. "Neohumility," is "humility without weakness and transformed to fit the business world" as it seeks to operationalize "neohumility and includes characteristics such as self-awareness, valuing others' opinions, willing to learn and change, sharing power, having the ability to hear the truth and admit mistakes," and works to create a "culture of openness where dissent is encouraged in an environment of mutual trust and respect" (Lawrence, 2006). Morris et al (2005) defines authentic humility as "neither self-abasement nor as overly positive self-regard" and he outlines three dimensions of humility: self-awareness, openness, and transcendence (Lawrence, 2006). "Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right" (Ezra Taft Benson, nd).

Reference:

Lawrence, P.G., (2006). Neohumility and Business Leadership: Do they belong together? Retrieved September 21, 2008 from http://cda.morris.umn.edu/~lawrenpg/leadership.pdf.

Life and Leadership

The class I am presently in is Leadership, which is interesting amidst the backdrop of the impending Presidential election...The way the media slants to their own persuasion is pathetic...Fox News has consistently remained biased as far as I can tell...I do not however have much time for television....Continuing this journey has become quite a juggling act, walking the line between personal and professional responsibilities...Maintaining balance and flexibility is the key to sanity and success....allowing for down days when I shift my focus toward one task over another....I am enjoying the challenges and the intellectual stimulation....I also enjoy the silliness of my children in contrast....I am learning so much about leadership and what my personal leadership style is and how to best combine the different models depending upon the situational factors that contribute such as the environmental cues (economic, political, cultural) and the human capital, treating each individual as an important human being and cultivating the appropriate relationships with peers and subordinates....The bottom line, thus far, is there is no single best model or theory of leadership, it is an amalgamation of many theories and a leaders response is based upon the situation as opposed to having a robotic response based in a single thoery..."made to order" leadership seems the most applicable....while maintaining the utmost importance to the relationships we create with one another and holding that sacred....supporting and inspiring one another along our journey whether personal or professional, we are all leaders to someone, whether it be at home or at work....I hope that we all remember that we should live our lives like people are watching, because people are watching....big and little....so I hope that we all lead by example....keeping it positive and pushing forward!