Professional Humility

THE FIVE ABSTRACTS OF LEADERSHIP (Article 5 of 5 of the series)

There is no doubt that it is important to have confidence in your ability to succeed professionally. I define confidence as the understanding one has of their own capacity to produce results. The trouble comes when this understanding does not reflect reality. At this point, confidence begins to devolve into arrogance. I define arrogance as the misunderstanding one has of their own capacity to produce. People who struggle with arrogance usually annoy those around them, and ultimately begin to develop poor attitudes that become counter-productive to the overall workplace.

Everyone is susceptible to falling into the trap of being over-ambitious regarding their own capabilities. It is difficult to accurately gauge on a constant basis how efficiently and effectively you can accomplish task after task. Yet to build a reputation as a go-to person in regards to work and opportunities, it is vital to establish yourself among your peers and those you report to as an individual who can handle the tasks that are brought. So how is this accomplished? How do we establish ourselves as professionals who can be trusted to get things done without portraying ourselves as individuals who can take on more than we can  really handle?

Understanding your true competencies is obviously important to protecting yourself against over-ambitious goals. I have no idea how to write in any of the languages necessary to put a website together. I know there is software to help, such as Frontpage and Dreamweaver. But when taking into account the fact that there are people who take multiple courses to learn how to put websites together, would it really be wise for me to take on a project to put a company website together with the understanding that our competitors may have professional web designers? I may be able to put something together, but will it match up to the quality of the websites our competitors have? I will probably waste time and money trying to find out because website design is not within my skill set. Yet understanding our true competencies is only a small part of professional humility.

The attitude of many professionals is plagued by, what call, “deservitude”. I define deservitude as being the sense of entitlement that many professionals seem to develop as a result of several factors, such as the amount of schooling they have attained, the time they have been at a particular company, in a particular position, or in a particular field, or maybe a past success that they seem to think has solidified an eternal position at their company. This sense of entitlement often blurs the reality that they are replaceable. We are not entitled to a job. We are not entitled to the tolerance of our employers having to deal with us giving less than 100%. By approaching our job as if we are deserving of this job based on past successes, rather than willing to serve in order to prove our continued value to our companies, we tend to develop a level of arrogance that ultimately stifles our ability to establish a good rapport with our employers. Once this takes place, our opportunities to advance become slimmer, and our lines of communication with our employers begin to close, and your professional development at that particular job becomes victimized by your own attitude.

The term “servitude” does not necessarily have a positive connotation in the minds of many professionals. Yet servitude is exactly what every position of employment entails. When it comes down to it, the compensation we receive is for the service we provide to our employers. Whether it is an accounting function, an information technology function, a human resource function, etc, we either provide some type of value to our employer or we get fired! Through our professional humility; our willingness to provide as much value as possible to our companies, while still keeping a firm grasp on the limitations of our own competencies; we exhibit our true commitment to our careers and our futures. Our attitudes will reflect an individual who does not mind staying busy and earning his paycheck. Employers recognize this attitude and will reward accordingly, sending you on your way up the corporate ladder.

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