I found this article very interesting as I find the humility to be one of the most admirable traits an individual can possess, let alone a leader. In class we have been discussing leaders who have a much more dramatic approach to leadership, charismatic leaders, royal families,etc. It was interesting to read about leaders that are so well known, like Lincoln and Washington, that most learned about them in our earliest years of education.
Something from this piece I found really important to note is the positive ripples humble leaders can produce. In the discussion of Keneddy as a leader, Ruscio mentions how Kennedy owning up to his own lack of experience and accepting help and guidance of others changed the course of history:” Kennedy introduced new formal steps within the senior staff for deliberating when reaching decisions… That change in approach was largely credited with later saving the nation from a nuclear exchange during the Cuban Missile Crisis”
Early in the piece, Ruscio says, “Humility is not arrogance, which may be obvious. But neither is it timidity or reticence, which may be less obvious.” I thought this misperception of humility was intriguing and it got me to thinking that it would be interesting to see how this plays into gender roles. In our class, my Leadership 102 class, my sociology class, and my psychology class we discussed the dividing role gender play in how a leader is viewed and therefore how effective they are. In all of my classes, we discussed along the lines of how social constructs of certain genders (male and female) are associated with different impressions of that leader. An example of this is how an assertive male leader is perceived as being “on top of it” while a female leader is considered “bossy”. In terms of humility, I wonder how gender plays a role in how followers interact with and perceive the leader. Would humble female leaders be respected and liked due to the stereotypical ideal female being a quiet, well-behaved woman? Or would they be disrespectful and take advantage of this nonintimidating boss? The same question arises for males, would a humble male leader be misperceived as a slacker or shy? It seems to be a double-edged sword.
I also enjoyed the altered connotation associated with humility as it is often thought to be a negatived thing to be humiliated, when in fact it is the most humbling experience. It is very beneficial and effective for leaders to embrace humiliation to a certain extent to create genuine connection with their followers. I also like how questioned the roil of genders when considering humility, and honestly I believe the answer is to complex to give. I think in order to assess the differences correctly there would also have to be the consideration of other aspects that form their identity as well.
I thought it was really interesting how you related different classes to this topic of humility. I hadn’t thought about gender when reading the article, but you brought up a really good point: How is a humble male leader perceived compared to a humble female leader? I would love to see research regarding that,