The Base Element
The higher you climb in leadership, the harder it becomes to keep learning – unless one critical posture remains firmly in place.
I deal in the world of development: personal, professional, spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical.
After years in this field as both a practitioner and facilitator, I have come to believe there is one critical element that sits at the foundation of every kind of forward progress.
It is absolutely necessary. In every case. (And as a general rule, I don’t speak in absolutes.)
Without it, growth eventually stalls, no matter how intelligent, experienced, or successful the leader may be.
That ingredient is… Humility.
Without it, information and insight have nowhere to land and no fertile soil in which to grow.
Humility is THE base element of human development, particularly in the world of executive leaders.
Most senior leaders have already consumed enormous amounts of leadership content over the course of their careers.
Books. Conferences. Podcasts. Training programs. By the time someone reaches the executive ranks, very little material they encounter feels entirely new.
If we’re honest, much of it is not even designed for their level of leadership.
Which creates a subtle but dangerous temptation.
It becomes very easy for an experienced leader to sit through a talk, read a chapter, or attend a development session and quietly think:
“I already know this.”
Because in many cases, they do.
But humility approaches development differently.
Instead of asking, “Is this new?”, humble leaders ask a better question:
“Where is the edge in this for me and/or my organization?”
Sometimes the insight is buried deep inside a familiar concept.
Sometimes it emerges through the connection of two ideas that don’t naturally live in the same head space.
And sometimes the real value comes from stepping back and asking how a seemingly simple principle might apply at scale across an entire organization.
That kind of thinking requires both executive experience and executive humility.
Because the reality is this:
The higher you climb on the ladder of leadership, the more work it takes to learn and develop.
You’ll likely have to wade through content you have heard before.
You’ll have to sit in rooms where the majority of examples are aimed at younger or less experienced leaders.
You’ll have to do the mental work of connecting dots at levels beyond what the material itself offers.
But humble leaders are willing to do that work.
They mine for insight.
They search for patterns.
They listen for the one idea that sharpens their thinking or reframes a problem they are currently facing.
Why?
Because executive leaders occupy a unique position in the life of an organization.
Yes, they are the tip of the spear.
But they are also the leadership lid.
The pace and depth of their development eventually set the ceiling for everyone else.
When senior leaders stop learning, the organization eventually stops growing.
But when leaders remain humble enough to keep searching for insight – even in places that feel routine and familiar – their organizations benefit from that posture.
Humility keeps leaders teachable.
And teachable leaders keep moving forward.
Which is why humility is not just helpful in development. It is the base element that makes development even possible in the first place.
By the way, this is also one of the inescapable benefits of being in a room with other serious leaders.
In the right environment, executive leaders are reminded that development never really ends. There is always another perspective to consider, another experience to learn from, another blind spot to uncover.
Providing that very “environment” is part of the rare, practically incalculable value Convene teams offer their members.
Our monthly gatherings create a space where senior leaders continue to sharpen their thinking alongside peers who understand the unique weight of the role.
Because no matter how far a leader has come, humility will always remain the foundation upon which their next level of growth is built.
Blessings to you, my friends!
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This Week’s Resource Recommendation:
"Ego is the Enemy"
- Ryan Holiday
From Amazon: “While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive visionary geniuses who remade the world in their image with sheer, almost irrational force, I’ve found that history is also made by individuals who fought their egos at every turn, who eschewed the spotlight, and who put their higher goals above their desire for recognition.” —from the prologue
Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back.
Ego Is the Enemy draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to history. We meet fascinating figures such as George Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who all reached the highest levels of power and success by conquering their own egos. Their strategies and tactics can be ours as well.
In an era that glorifies social media, reality TV, and other forms of shameless self-promotion, the battle against ego must be fought on many fronts. Armed with the lessons in this book, as Holiday writes, “you will be less invested in the story you tell about your own specialness, and as a result, you will be liberated to accomplish the world-changing work you’ve set out to achieve.”
MMS 26-10
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