I really enjoyed reading some of the arguments that Ruscio presented. He talks about humility and the act of being humble as a part of personal character that can be effective, not necessarily calling it an important aspect of leadership. He describes humilty as something that has to “come from within”. I could not agree with him more. Similar to what we talked about last class, from what I’ve gathered in this reading, it appears the best way to appear humble is to actually be humble. Humility is something that has to be built in character, not something that can be taught in a leadership seminar.
I found his story about George Washington particularly fascinating. Being that Washington is someone that we’ve said had been turned into a legend over the accumulation of time, I’ve never seen Washington in this sort of light. The story that Ruscio presents is something you definitly would not find in your common APUSH textbook because it doesn’t really fit Washington’s persona as this savior and winner of the American Revolution. Washington in a way humbles himself by asking his men to forgive him, and given that the men apparently were sobbing afterwards, it was clearly quite effective. This is a strategy that was also used by the current Pope Francis in his first address as Pope, when he asked to the people to pray for him.
I love one of the other examples Ruscio shares about JFK and his failure with the Bay of Pigs invasion. Not only did JFK the next day acknowledge and accept responsibilty for his faults, but he also humbled himself by asking former President Eisenhower for advice. The fact that he realized that he needed the help of a military leader such as Eisenhower demonstarted that JFK was human just like the rest of us. The changes he made due to Eisenhower’s advice and the acknowledgement of his own mistakes said a lot about him as a man that the American People really appreciated, and also helped him bring an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was very important to say the least.
I also really enjoyed reading this piece. It was strange at first, because it seemed like to elevate yourself as a leader through humility, it involved cutting yourself down a little first. However, leaders showing themselves as imperfect allows us (followers) to more closely relate and identify with them.