“Humility leads to strength and not to weakness. It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them.”_John J. McCloy
We can find countless number of self-improvement materials
teaching about principles of true success but we don’t have a lot that
accurately emphasize the importance of humility on human achievements.
So, to make a contribution, I decided to compose this
article. Now let’s start with a dictionary definition of the word.
Dictionary defines humility as the quality of being modest
or respectful. It is the perfect
quietness of one’s heart.
When we think of a truly humble person, we are likely to have
a mind-picture of modesty, calmness, fairness, tranquility and authenticity.
Humility is about thinking unassumingly of oneself,
especially in relation to others. It is about not having an exaggerated sense
of self-importance.
However, true humility is not servile but it is quiet
confidence, and genuine consideration for the feelings and opinions of others.
Therefore, the right approach to humbleness is a realistic
appraisal of one's own abilities, coupled with a sincere desire to use those
abilities to cater for the need of others. This is what I mean by positive
humility.
According to Jim Collin’s book, ‘Good to Great,’ one of the
two powerful qualities of exceptional leaders is humility—the other one is
mettle.
You see, positive humility has nothing to do with being a
doormat, but everything to do with being a wise person. In this sense, we cannot overestimate the
value of true humility and its power both in social and business circle.
This means that for humility to be positive, courage should not
be absent. Humility without nerve is what degenerates into being a pushover.
Stephen Covey agrees with Jim Collins completely when he
concluded in his book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,’ that the twin
virtues of true success are humility and courage.
He said that humility is like the mother while courage is like
the father. And the two combined in one person is the ultimate source of
personal power.
Therefore you need the virtue of courage to ensure your
sense of humility remains positive and beneficial to you and everyone around
you.
Finally, if you want to imbibe the virtue of positive
humility, keep in mind the beautiful words of a writer, Ralph Marston who
wrote:
“Whatever
you’re doing a sense of superiority will make you worse at it. Humility, on the
other hand will make you better. The moment you think you’ve got it all figured
out, your progress stops.
Instead,
continue to advance and improve by reminding yourself how much more there will
always be to discover.
Confidence
is positive and empowering, but arrogance is deadly. Be confidence, but not at
the expense of your respect for others.”
