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Humility and Business Leaders

"Out of 1,435 Fortune 500 companies that renowned management researcher Jim Collins studied over a five-year period, only 11 achieved and sustained greatness--garnering stock returns at least three times the market's--for 15 years after a major transition period." So what made these 11 companies different? According to Collins, they each had a "Level 5" leader. Although a "Level 5" leader exibits lots of characteristics in common with other leaders, he also exhibits an interesting "combination of deep personal humility with intense professional will." Here's how these qualities look: Intense professional will = They're totally intollerant of mediocrity and will do whatever they can to get results. They select great people to take their place when they retire, so that the company will do even better in the future. Deep personal humility = When the company succeeds, they give others the credit or point to other external factors. When things go badly, they take the blame. "They also act quietly, calmly, and determinedly," not flashy charisma. (Rewritten by Steve Miller From Zooba's Harvard Business School Publishing channel "Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve," Jan. 29, 2002)

Buffett on Choosing a Business Partner

Warren Buffett, America's most successful investor, said this about choosing a business partner: ?I think you?ll probably start looking for the person that you can always depend on; the person whose ego does not get in his way; the person who?s perfectly willing to let someone else take the credit for an idea as long as it worked; the person who essentially won?t let you down who thought straight as opposed to brilliantly.? Warren Buffett, quoted by Andrew Kilpatrick in ?Of Permanent Value?

The Isley Brothers and Elton John

In the early days of Rock, the popular Isley Brothers band toured Europe with a young keyboard player who wanted them to listen to the briefcase of songs he'd written. But they never did. They said, "We figured this guy with the big glasses, how could he write something that would be funky enough for us?" Now he regrets missing out on all those great songs. The keyboardist was perennial best-selling singer/songwriter Elton John. (Written by Steve Miller. Source: Kot, Greg, ?How the Isley Brothers became ? and stayed ? the first family of R & B? Chicago Tribune, November 4, 2001, Sec. 7, p. 1.) This illustrates that we must be humble enough to respect and learn from those we consider "beneath us."

"We Are The World"

When many music legends came together in Los Angeles to record the song "We are the World," the organizer posted a sign on the entrance of the studio that read, "Check your ego at the door." You see, every singer was a star, but not everyone could have a solo. The project was a success because of working together. Some ministries need to put up a similar sign so that all of the visible, gifted leaders can be reminded what they are there for. Perhaps some worship teams need a sign to read before they come into the worship center that reads: "Check your egos at the door." A few years ago, a group of music legends assembled in Los Angeles to record the song ?We are the World.? Lionel Richie, the popular musician, organized the event. On the entrance of the recording studio, he posted a sign saying, ?Check your ego at the door.? Although every singer was a star, not everyone had a solo. A few years ago, a group of music legends assembled in Los Angeles to record the song ?We are the World.? Lionel Richie, the popular musician, organized the event. On the entrance of the recording studio, he posted a sign saying, ?Check your ego at the door.? Although every singer was a star, not everyone had a solo. The eventual success of the song was because of the cooperation, not competition.

Landers on Selfless Kindness

?The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.? Columnist Ann Landers

Giving Others Credit for My Achievements

Humility is recognizing that God and others are responsible for the achievements in my life. (I Cor. 4:7)

The High Calling

If God has called you to be truly like Jesus, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put on you demands of obedience that sometimes will not allow you to follow other Christians. In many ways He will seem to let other good people do things He will not let you do. Other Christians, and even ministers, who seem very religious and useful may push themselves, pull strings, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do these things. And if you attempt them, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent. Others can brag about themselves, about their work, about their success, about their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing; and if you begin bragging, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works. Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may only supply you daily, because He wants you to have something far better than gold - a helpless dependence on Him - that He may have the privilege of providing your needs daily out of the unseen treasury. The Lord may let others be honored and keep you hidden away in obscurity, because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. God will let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit for it, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. And then to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done, and this will make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes. The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, with jealous love, and rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasted time, which other Christians never seem distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign who has a right to do as He pleases with His own and needs not to explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you. God will take you at your word; and if you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and let other people say and do many things you cannot do or say. Settle it forever that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes in ways that others are not disciplined. Now when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven. (Author unknown, from the collection of Barry St. Clair)

Einstein on the Humility of Wisdom

Title: Einstein on the Humility of True Wisdom Topic: Wisdom, Humility ?As a human being, one has been endowed with just enough intelligence to be able to see clearly how utterly inadequate that intelligence is when confronted with what exists. If such humility could be conveyed to everybody, the world of human activities would be more appealing.? (From a Sept., 1932 letter to Queen Elizabeth, found in Albert Einstein: The Human Side, Selected and edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press, 1979, p. 48)

Riley Learns in the Trenches

Title: Riley Learns in the Trenches Topic: Wisdom, Humility, Serving Pat Riley was one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time. In reflecting back on what made him great, he thought about his small positions before he became head coach. Of these, he said, ?First, never demean the time you spend in the trenches. If you pay attention to what you?re doing, you can learn an awful lot about how an organization behaves, and that can be very useful later on.? ?Second, use any time when you aren?t on center stage to strengthen your powers of perception. Even being on the bench or working around the periphery of the Lakers was like attending a master class in professional basketball. It?s strictly attitude that lets you learn.? So don?t get down if you feel that your responsibilities for God are small. Do well at them. Learn under ministries that God is using. Don?t get discouraged. God often uses these times to train and strengthen us for greater things. (Pat Riley, The Winner Within, G.P. Putnam?s Sons, New York, 1993, p. 63)

Greatness Treats Little People Right

Someone has said that the test of a great man is the way he treats little people. (The Friendship Factor, by Alan Loy McGinnis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1979)

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