don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to
be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honor-
able we treat with special honor . . . there should be no division in the
body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.’’ (1
Cor. 12:21–26)
The message behind this analogy? All people have gifts, all people
can contribute to a mission, and it is part of the leader’s job to make
sure that each ‘‘body part’’ is valued and has input. The ‘‘head,’’ or the
executive suite, cannot exist without the ‘‘heart’’ (human resources or
customer service) or the ‘‘feet’’ (the messenger service, truck fleet, or
the mail room). And the humble leader realizes that no one part should
be exalted above the rest, since it cannot exist without the rest.
A team functions best when all the members (even the leaders) ex-
hibit appropriate humility toward one another. This is expressed beauti-
fully in 1 Peter 5:5: ‘‘All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward
one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the
humble.’’
HUMILITY IN THE FACE OF MISTAKES
One thing that makes leadership so difficult is that as you go higher in
the organization, your mistakes become more visible and they impact
increasing numbers of people. That’s why those at the highest levels
often spend considerable time covering up, whitewashing, or justifying
their mistakes to the press and to those affected by the mistakes.
Great leaders have the ability to be humble in failure and error, if
not as a matter of habit, at least some of the time. Ironically, this
ability, rather than destroying their image, credibility, and power, often
strengthens them.
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THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
Job had many strengths. However, he was also strong enough to
admit his imperfection: ‘‘I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I
put my hand over my mouth . . . Therefore I despise myself and repent
in dust and ashes.’’ ( Job 40:4, 42:6) This act of humility did not end
Job’s prosperity; it only increased it. He emerged from ruin to acquire
fourteen thousand sheep, six hundred camels, a thousand yoke of oxen
and a thousand donkeys. Moreover, he was blessed with ten more chil-
dren and lived 140 years so that he could enjoy his children and his
children’s children.
Jack Welch, the recently retired chairman of General Electric, was
one of the most successful businessmen of all time, multiplying the
company’s assets, profits, and stock price many times over during his
tenure. But Welch was also capable of making mistakes. Any CEO of a
multibillion-dollar company is bound to make some, even if they repre-
sent ‘‘only’’ one of those billions.
For example, Welch had engineered GE’s disastrous purchase of 80
percent of Kidder Peabody for $600 million; the whole failed deal cost
GE $1.2 billion. Welch didn’t seek to minimize this mistake, nor did
he look around for other heads to blame and lop off. ‘‘I’ve rewarded
failures by giving out awards to people when they’ve failed . . . I always
say, if the chairman can buy Kidder Peabody and mess it up, you can
do just about anything . . . Now if the chairman can do that and still
survive, you ought to be able to take swings everywhere.’’13
Welch’s humble approach in accepting responsibility for his error
undoubtedly encouraged others at GE (and the many other companies
who study and benchmark GE) to take risks and to exhibit humility
when those risks didn’t always pay off.
Remember Ahab, the husband of Jezebel? He had many vices, in-
cluding violent seizure of property (the killing of Naboth for his or-
chard) and idol worship. But he did have one saving grace—humility.
When Ahab realized how craven his behavior had been, he tore his
clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He adjusted his behavior to meek-
ness and kindness, causing Elijah the prophet to comment, ‘‘Have you
noticed how Ahab has humbled himself . . . ? Because he has humbled
himself, I will not bring disaster in his day . . .’’ (1 Kings 21:29). Of
Humility
79
course, many of Ahab’s sins were visited upon his son, but at least dogs
did not lap up his blood.
In modern times, Procter & Gamble behaved initially in an arrogant
and vindictive manner when sensitive information about the company
was leaked to the Wall Street Journal in 1991. They initiated a police search of over 800,000 telephone lines in the Cincinnati area in an
attempt to locate the informant. Soon afterward, they realized that their
attempts to solve the problem had only aggravated it instead. There
were strong protests by lawyers, the press, and even by Procter & Gam-
ble’s own employees.
A truly arrogant company would have stood by their initial misin-
formed reaction. In fact, they probably would have stiffened their stand
the more they were attacked. But Procter & Gamble realized they had
made a serious error and that it was time for some humility. The com-
pany’s CEO wrote a letter to employees apologizing for his ‘‘error of
judgment,’’ which ‘‘created a problem that was larger than the one we
were trying to solve.’’14
This episode, rather than weakening the company, strengthened it.
By admitting its error quickly and moving on to more important mat-
ters, Procter & Gamble avoided the sin of excessive pride, which often
damages or destroys people and companies. They avoided the frequent
fate of those who are unable to be humble in the face of mistakes, which
is set down so succinctly in Jeremiah 8:12: ‘‘Are they ashamed of their
loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even
know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be
brought down when they are punished.’’
Procter & Gamble knew how to blush. This critical leadership com-
petency saved them from landing amid the fallen, perhaps permanently.
One biblical king who also knew how to blush was Rehoboam. He
had united the kingdom behind him, but had neglected God’s com-
mandments. Therefore, God abandoned him to his enemies as a logical
consequence of this disloyalty. In the face of this consequence, Reho-
boam could have become more arrogant, rejecting his religion, and
straying further into idol worship. However, ‘‘the leaders of Israel and
the king humbled themselves and said, ‘The Lord is just.’ ’’ The Lord’s
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THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
response? ‘‘Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy
them, but will soon give them deliverance.’’ (2 Chron. 12: 6–7)
Perhaps the most humble political leader of the twentieth century
was Mahatma Gandhi. Like Moses, he totally subordinated his ego and
comfort needs to his overriding mission, the deliverance of his people
from bondage. Gandhi always dressed simply, lived frugally, and es-
chewed the emblems of power and prestige.
Gandhi’s humility transcended the large political and social forces
that he was trying to harness for the liberation of his people; it extended to the personal. On one occasion, a mother brought her child to ‘‘the
great Mahatma.’’ ‘‘He insists on eating candy, which is bad for him,’’
she complained. Surely the great man could influence her son to stop.
Amazingly, Gandhi sent her away and asked her to come back in a
month. When she returned, he immediately instructed the son to stop
eating candy.
‘‘And why could you not tell my son this when we came to see you
a month ago?’’ asked the woman. ‘‘Because I myself had not stopped
eating candy at that time,’’ answered the great statesman. That’s the
kind of humility that can move one person or a million.
Chairman Roger Sant and CEO Dennis Bakke of AES are two lead-
ers who readily forgive the honest mistakes of their employees. Why do
they have such a tolerant attitude? ‘‘Maybe because of the humility that
says, ‘We’ve been on the front lines and made big decisions and big
mistakes . . . On our first two or three projects, [we] really screwed up
. . . We should have been hung out to dry.’ ’’
Sant and Bakke’s first power plant lost $20 million per year for six
years. They bought an oil field that lost another $20 million. They
bought prototype turbines that cracked.
‘‘That whole investment lost dollars for years, until people at the
plant figured out how to fix it. Now it’s doing very well, very little
thanks to us,’’ note these top executives who have learned humility
from difficult experience. ‘‘The good news about owning up to your
mistakes right away is that it is so much easier to move quickly and find
a creative solution. You don’t sit around wasting time trying to figure
out whom to blame.’’15
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HUMILITY ‘‘PAYS’’
Yet another ridiculous oxymoron? Ironically, from ancient times to
modern, humility has paid off in practical terms. It’s not an easy process