After 16 years of marriage, this man found himself divorced, jobless, and homeless. As he was telling his story, I just couldn’t believe it. He looked great — well-dressed, happy, and well-fed. He told his compelling story at a men’s group I participate in every Friday morning. He had some people in his life who stuck with him, believed in him, and helped him eventually reconciled with his wife, get a great job, and moved back into his home.
As he was explaining how he had to stay with many friends during his period of homelessness, I remember thinking to myself that he wasn’t really homeless. I mean, he wasn’t under a bridge or anything, how bad could it have been? That may sound harsh, but it was exactly what I thought. As the weekend went on, I thought more about the concept of being homeless and I came to the understanding that being homeless is more that just being without a home; it is living without a sense of belonging to something. There was a point in my life where I was lost. I had a place to live, but I did not belong to anything or anyone; I was a wandering generality. Like the guy from the meeting, some people stuck by me until I could believe in myself and get it together.
In the book Good To Great, Jim Collins pointed out that the key to sustaining greatness is leadership. The character in the leader that can accomplish this, he discovered in his research, was humility. Humility can mean different things to different people. To me, it means that I am not better than anyone; maybe gifted differently, but not better. I am maybe three really dumb decisions away from being divorced, jobless, and homeless, and I recognize that I still need people in my life to help keep me accountable. Humility in leadership is very difficult. When you are looked at for answers and you have the corner office, it is hard not to let that go to your head. Staying grounded is a vital ingredient to a humble leader and necessary for your organization to maintain a high level of excellence.
If you have ever served at a homeless shelter and engaged with a homeless person, you have a different perspective than one who has never done that. Some of them are even there with their kids. There are circumstances which get them there, but it can mostly be attributed to a series of bad decisions. Their identity is smashed and hopelessness settles in. The ones who get off the street, however, somehow find hope. They find that hope from someone who extends a hand and begins to believe in them, and that can only happen with personal involvement. Programs are great, but take it from someone who was once hopeless — that personal touch is irreplaceable on the road to recovery.
As a leader, you have a responsibility to put programs in place and provide opportunities for the whole team. You have to think and act globally. If you want your programs to be effective, however, and make real change for your organization, you must roll your sleeves up and get involved somewhere personally. Trust me, it will make all the difference in the world. A leader who lacks humility will not want to get personally involved; after all, they are busy and don’t have time. If you want an opportunity to practice humility, volunteer somewhere serving the less fortunate. It may be just the key to unlock a future for you and your organization that you are not even thinking about. At the same time, you may give someone the hope they need to get back on their feet.
[This piece was originally published on Culture Infusion, a blog created by Chris Walden and Bill Rieger. Follow their blog on Twitter at @C_infusion.]
Share Your Thoughts
You must be logged in to post a comment.