Humility—The Secret of True Greatness

In Matthew 8:5-13 , a centurion with great authority and power asked Jesus for help regarding his paralyzed servant. What especially surprised Jesus was this leader’s humility evidenced by his complete faith and trust in Jesus’ authority and power. The centurion recognized who Jesus really was and saw himself unworthy in light of Jesus’ greatness. In his words—“Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Jim Collins describes great leaders as having both will and humility. Will is the determination to follow through on a vision, a mission, and goals. Humility is realizing that leadership is not about the leader; it’s about the people they serve, and what they need.

According to Collins, when things go well for typical “self-serving” leaders, they look in the mirror, beat their chests, and tell themselves how good they are. When things go wrong, they look out the window and blame everyone else.

On the other hand, when things go well for “serving” leaders, they look out the window and give everybody else the credit. When things go wrong, serving leaders look in the mirror, take responsibility, and ask questions like: “What could I have done differently?” or, “Did I fail to train adequately or provide enough resources?”

The antidote for pride and fear is God’s unconditional love. We can’t control enough, sell enough, make enough money, or have a high enough position to get God to love us any more. We have all the love we need. We simply need to accept it and allow God to channel His love through us to others. This is how we become clothed with humility and attain true greatness.

[Next week I will talk about credibility—the foundation of leadership.]