Maria Gonzalez Blog
Mindful Leadership

Humility Is Characteristic of Mindful Leaders

Humility is often misunderstood. It can be seen as weak or indicative of lack of self assurance. But nothing could be further from the truth.

True and sincere humility is pure strength and pure presence. It is indicative of a clear knowing of the oneness of all things. One of the ways in which humility manifests is being comfortable with being vulnerable and that vulnerability enables you to lead effectively. In essence, leaders with humility are comfortable in their own skin.

Now, you may wonder how that could be. Being comfortable with vulnerability means that when you make a mistake you can take responsibility rather than looking to lay blame. When you are able to do that, as a leader, it empowers those around you to take calculated risk. They are not themselves constantly fearful of making a mistake. An organization whose culture is that of fear of blame is far less likely to be innovative or even able to sustain high performance.

Humility knows that because we are all connected how we behave impacts everyone around us. As a leader your ability to take full responsibility for your actions and to acknowledge when you have made a mistake, deeply, positively impacts everyone around you. In fact, rather than being seen as weak, you are perceived to have true courage.