What do we expect of our leaders?

What adjectives come to mind when you think of leaders? OK, those who read this blog may have a little different view of leadership. So what adjectives do you think most of society would look for in their leaders? Most would use words like bold, decisive, strong. These would all be good qualities to describe a leader.

But what about Humble? Well, there are some who would agree that this describes a good leader. But most see humility as a weakness. Consequently, the perception is that leaders should not exihibit signs of humility.

As servant-leaders, we wrestle with the value of being strong and decisive, yet also exhibiting humility. We sometimes struggle with understanding the strength that comes from being humble. It is a paradox that takes a lifetime for most of us to master.

There has been a lot written on the web lately about humility. First, Ira Williams published an essay (.pdf download) entitled: "Speak Softly: What's happened to American Humility." It is a great little manifesto on humility. Ed Brenegar over at Leading Questions wrote this column on humility, and also talks about it more in this post. Bill Kinnon at Achievable Ends, whose site I ran across when I first started blogging, has a wonderful post on humility as well.

Take the time to read what Ira, Ed and Bill have written about humility. It is indeed an important part of being an effective servant-leader. More to come soon......