Humble Leaders are the Best

Jim Collins spoke at the Global Leadership Summit I attended over the past two days. He is a nationally acclaimed business thinker and author of Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall. During his session he pointed out the one consistent factor that separates a great level 5 leader from a good level 4 leader: Humility to do whatever it takes.

Collins shared his research on the five stages of decline that corporations and organizations follow into self-destruction. The most startling news was that most organizations don’t see it coming until they end up in a free fall, which is stage four – The point where everyone is grasping for a silver bullet in an attempt to save the day.

The level 5 leaders do not follow the five stages of decline and are able to keep their business a float regardless of the circumstances they face. This is first due to their humility, which circumvents the first stage of decline that Collins refers to as hubris (arrogance) being born out of success.

The humble CEO brings a perspective to the company that the vision or mission of the organization is bigger than himself. In other words, it is not about him. This humility is typically issue based or has an innate purpose attached to it. The CEO’s passion typically drives her to do whatever it takes to keep the corporate goals alive, especially if our society would change should the company come to an end.

The key is focusing on and keeping intact the core values of the company, while making adjustments based on shifts in society to stimulate progress. This interesting tension to maintain values, while becoming relevant to a changing society must be managed in order to survive economic changes – Something only a humble person can do.

Arrogance holds more tightly to the way things used to be done and enters into the land of irrelevance. Or, they are so caught up in their success; they don’t notice the decline of the company until it is in a free fall that ends in capitulation.

One of the key factors that gives the humble leader the ability to turn the business or organization around, is his willingness to hear the unpleasant facts from employees who have a handle on their part of the business – catching the warning signs early. The arrogant leader isn’t willing to listen to the grim facts, especially while the positive press is still coming in from outside the organization – Creating an interesting delay of the facts.

However, the humble CEO listens to her people and trusts their expertise. This allows the company to come back from any setbacks it might hit. It also generates a tremendous amount of respect for the CEO from the employees, especially since they can make a direct impact in their business.

But more importantly, the humble CEO who holds a vision that spells out a purpose few other organizations have, will do whatever it takes in order to keep the mission alive. This entrepreneurial spirit might find the CEO sweeping the floors or covering for an important employee who needs a break to pick up their child from daycare. The CEO’s focus is encouraging his people to shine regardless of the economy or circumstances that shake up companies.

The bottom line... Collin’s research proved that the best and longest lasting companies have humble CEOs.