In class we’ve discussed how different types of leaders are necessary for different roles, which Ruscio also noted. He emphasized the importance of not humble leaders in general, but the importance of humble leaders in American democracy because of the “humility of the system” (13). In other words, we have constructed a system in our country that places its success on having a humble leader. In this “fallibilist democracy” as Ruscio calls it (13), we have put a system in place that recognizes that both our leaders and our citizens are fallible and can make mistakes, and because of that put protections in so that we can change course later if need be. Because of this system, Ruscio is arguing that we need humble leaders. I think it’s interesting that he did not try to make the case that all leaders need to be humble.
While Ruscio does not extend the argument for humble leaders to all leaders, I think he could. We typically think of military figures as authoritative, strong, commanding, and countless more adjectives, yet humble would probably never make that list. By discussing Washington, Ruscio indirectly makes the argument that even military leaders can benefit from being humble in addition to those other assertive qualities. If even military leaders could benefit from humility, is there a kind of leader that wouldn’t?
My opinion on your question if any leaders wouldn’t benefit from humility is no– I think any leader on a small or large school can benefit from being humble. As Ruscio says, “What matters is that they saw themselves as imperfect” (10), I think any leader can benefit from avoiding overconfidence and portraying to followers they understand their flaws. Ruscio uses the examples of Washington and Lincoln, but I think this can extend to small-scale leaders such as educators, administrators, and local politicians because it is important to be seen as human to the people one is appealing to.
When you said that we have built a system in our country that benefits on having a humble leader it really made me think of how presidents and the presidential candidates act today. I think it closely relates with how they act today and that was surprising to realize. I think the answer to your question is no, there are leaders from presidents to maybe even a kid on a sports team being a leader and I don’t think that they would benefit from having humility.
I think this idea is a very unique one because as I went through reading the article, I did not think so much about how it was saying how important it was in an American democracy (though it definitely was). I more read it as the broader take home message of how humility is an underrated characteristic in leaders today. I also really like how you tied it into the example of George Washington because he was the first commander in chief and all that so of course not all leaders will be the same but I think most of the good ones will tend to have the same qualities, including humility in at least some capacity.