But humility is key to effective leadership. Take, for example, the humble leadership of St. Francis of Assisi or Mother Teresa. When they heard God’s call, they responded with genuine humility. When people asked why God picked them, their reply was that God had chosen the lowliest and the weakest so that people would know that their achievements were possible only because of God. They wanted to make sure that it was God who got all the glory, not them. And many people were drawn to their work and their leadership because of their humility.
Ancient Greek philosophers said that humility is a meta-virtue — it serves as the foundation for all other virtues, such as wisdom, compassion, courage and forgiveness. Mother Teresa, whose life was an illustration of that principle, said: “Humility is the mother of all virtues: purity, charity and obedience.”
Humility is essential if we want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, our ultimate model of leadership. Christ humbly came down from his kingdom in heaven to raise up the lowly. As Jesus told his disciples: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)
Some recent leadership research studies are finding that leaders are more powerful when they are humble. St. Augustine once said that if we wish to rise, we must begin by descending: “You plan to build a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.” Humility allows leaders to squash their own ego so that they can focus on the needs of others.
Humility allows us to see what the proud have difficulty seeing — our own limitations and weaknesses. To gain the trust of followers, we must humbly accept that we have limitations and recognize that we need help--God's help and the help of others. Humility is what will facilitate our growth and improvement and the realization that we are all in this together and that we must work together to accomplish the work before us.
I pray that our leaders lead with humility to lead us to our eternal destination, to holiness. As Pope Francis said: “Humility is the way to holiness.” Leadership must go through humility and with humility in order to lead all of us in our response to the call to holiness.
