Humble business leaders are more effective
A new research shows how modesty is the key to become a successful leader. Mighty humble leaders benefit from a more open mind and culture.
This conclusion emerges from the PhD research of Milton Sousa from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). He defends his thesis "Servant Leadership to the test: new perspectives and insights' on Thursday, June 12th, 2014 at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Often, modesty is associated with iconic spiritual or political leaders, not so much with leaders in the business world. In his thesis, Sousa shows that modesty is one of the values of a humble leader, even in the business environment. Leaders may enhance the effects of their actions as they remain in the background and their followers have the opportunity to act. In this way, leaders get more respect and workers become more involved.
Surprisingly, this can be seen when the leader is in a powerful position. Clearly the higher a leader goes on the hierarchical ladder, the more relevant modesty is. These powerful leaders hold a more open culture, where learning, honesty and listening are considered important.
This means that the road to the top is not always paved with humility. The mechanism is less effective for leaders of lower grades, where traditional aspects of leadership such as reliability and persuasion turn to be sufficient. But once the leader is in that position, modesty is an effective tool.
Sousa also discovered that humble leaders often underestimate themselves with how their followers see them. That is another confirmation of their humble character.
Source: HR Praktijk