Humility is a time-honored virtue. But, did you know that it’s also a powerful attribute that can help you in your career?
It’s common to associate characteristics like ambition and confidence with power and success at work. However, it’s important to remember that these traits alone don’t bring much respect.
Being capable, sincere, hard-working and enjoyable to work with go a long way, too. It’s hard to lean into these qualities from a place of arrogance, though. Humility isn’t a sign of weakness; it actually demonstrates a tremendous strength that can do wonders for your career.
Here are a few reasons why:
1. You’ll make better decisions
One of the main ways that humility can help you in your career is that it allows you to have a more open approach through the workday. If you’re humble, you’ll be more likely to ask others for help when you feel unsure. You’ll also be more careful when you prepare projects or get ready for important meetings.
When you embrace humility, you’ll move with considered care. This will help you to make good decisions at work, which could do wonders for your career.
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2. It brings a powerful confidence
Being humble isn’t weak – in fact, it’s the opposite. Feigned confidence abounds in the working world, but authentic confidence is somewhat rare. Think about all the arrogant folks you see walking around like they know the best way to do everything. It’s so easy to see through these individuals’ attempts to fake confidence.
However, people who are truly good at their jobs can also be quite humble about their accomplishments and their expertise. This allows for a kind of powerful confidence to rise to the surface that demonstrates what they’re really quite capable. True confidence and humility go together. Arrogance is just a cover-up.
3. You’ll learn and grow
Arrogant folks have a hard time accepting criticism, much less learning from it. False confidence can often act as a barrier to progress. If you sheath yourself in an attitude of supremacy, it can be super hard to face your weaknesses or benefit from negative, yet helpful, feedback from others.
Humble people, on the other hand, know they still have a lot to learn. This is true even when they’re already great at what they do. As a result, humble people are more capable of learning from their mistakes, and they tend to make progress more quickly, too. Embracing humility can help you grow your skills, and your career, with greater ease.
4. It helps you to become a trusted leader
When you’re humble about what you know, and how much you still have to learn, it helps others to behave the same way. Your coworkers, and even your manager, will likely feel more comfortable coming to you for help or guidance if you represent yourself as someone who is humble and always anxious to learn and improve.
Even when you have a tremendous amount of experience and expertise, you should still be learning and developing your skills. Embracing that attitude helps others to do the same. Your colleagues will feel comfortable sharing what they really think and feel with you when you demonstrate humility. And that makes you a leader.
5. Being authentic takes less energy
Let’s face it, it’s exhausting to walk around day after day with an arrogant attitude. You know deep down that you still have a lot to learn. Embracing this reality takes so much less energy than trying to fight against it.
Being humble doesn’t mean that you lack confidence. It means that you are honest and real about who you are and that you take the good with the bad. You’ll get ahead professionally when you focus your energies on bettering your skills and abilities. Putting all that time and effort into pretending you’re already perfect is a waste.
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