This writing on humility once again explored the relationship between leaders and their followers. Ruscio makes the claim that the most effective leaders have a strong sense of humility. He writes about the misconceptions of the word humility by saying “Humility is not arrogance, which may be obvious. But neither is it timidity or reticence, which may be less obvious.” In other words, he is saying that a leader must obviously not be arrogant, but also that humility is not the opposite; humility is the middle ground between the two. Humility is the ability of the leader to run the show but also be a part of the army.
The example of Washington really stood out to me in the reading. Ruscio tells the story of President Washington and his relationship with his army. He writes, “He was not the general whose authority had been questioned; he was one of them, a fellow soldier, whose integrity had been questioned.” Washington had given an apology to his followers and admitted to his faults. In his farewell address, he even talked about how he had served them. He begged his people for forgiveness. He was such a powerful leader, yet maintained an astonishing sense of humility which helped him become such an influential leader
When reading this article, I was intrigued by what he had to say but not necessarily convinced. You mentioned that Washington was able to establish a bond with his followers, but how is that different that being a charismatic? Charismatics have to be able to emotionally understand, respond to, and manipulate emotions in order to gain a following, and I think that Washington may have been expressing humility as part of being a charismatic person, even if not conscious of it.
I like how you emphasized Ruscio’s point of humility being the middle ground between arrogance and timidity. I found Washington’s display of humility in this reading interesting as well.
I liked how you spoke about humility and gave an example of a very successful leader who used humility when he was leading. The example of George Washington really stuck out to me too because he is such a well known and influential leader and the fact that Ruscio says having humility will make a leader successful just made sense that George Washington would be on that list of leaders who had humility.
I agree with your point of humility being in between being arrogant and being timid. Humility is a very important aspect for a leader to have and I believe it goes together with narcissism. Humility and narcissism mean the complete opposite of one another, yet the right balance of both traits are necessary for an important leader to have.
Ruscio’s theory about authority vs. integrity also resonated with me. It is an interesting outlook on politics in general; often times, voters are fooled by big ego, but the best leaders put their integrity before their egos. This is why figures like Kennedy, Lincoln, and Washington have been immortalized in American politics.
I really like the idea that humility is the middle ground between arrogance and its opposite, even though everyone assumes it is. on top of the idea that an excellent leader serves with the group leading through experience not by idea.
Your thought of having humility be the middle ground between timidity and reticence. Leaders must obviously not withhold arrogant mannerisms but the thought of being a humility character is one who leads the pack but also fights with the army such as George Washington, that why he is such a notible leader in history.