“Go and humble yourself . . .” – Proverbs 6:3 

Country singer Mac Davis once had a hit song you may recall that goes like this: “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble / When your perfect in every way / I can’t wait to look in the mirror / Cause I get better looking each day / To know me is to love me / I must be a h*** of a man / Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble / But I’m doing the best that I can.” 

The humor, of course, is in the singer’s self-perception, which is – well! – anything but humble. Then maybe the song makes us laugh at ourselves a bit as well; for aren’t we all a little like that at times? The song is right about one thing, though, humility is hard, and a bit tricky.

It’s hard because we imagine a humble person as a shrinking violet, weak and lacking confidence and courage. And who likes to think of oneself, much less be thought of by others, that way? But humility is not born of weakness, but comes from strength, confidence and courage; otherwise, it would not be considered one of the great human virtues. For what are we here for if not to step up and do our best at our respective endeavors? And that’s were it gets tricky, when our accomplishments tempt us to toot our own horn or expect accolades from others.

The pen, we’ve heard it said, is mightier than the sword. Likewise, it might also be said that humility is mightier than pride. Consider, for example, the lives of Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone, widely believed to have been the two greatest British Prime Ministers of the nineteenth century. Comparing the two, someone once surmised, that if you walked out of Gladstone’s office after meeting with him you would think he was the smartest person in world. Disraeli, however, after meeting with him you would likely walk out feeling like YOU were the smartest person in the world. Two brilliant men, two extraordinary leaders, both with amazing accomplishments, except one was humble, the other proud.

In the theater of life pride steals the spotlight for oneself. But humility lights up the entire stage, selflessly sharing the accolades with others. The better way is to “Go and humble yourself,” the Proverb urges. But, “Oh Lord, it’s hard . . .”, isn’t it?

“. . . let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” – Hebrews 12:1 

Of all the great stories attributed to that ancient Greek slave-storyteller known as Aesop, my favorite has always been the about “The Tortoise and the Hare.” The fable begins with the hare making fun of the tortoise for the way he creeps along, in response to which the tortoise challenges the hare to a race. The hare knew, of course, he had the ability to beat the tortoise with time to spare. So, after gaining a comfortable lead the hare decided to pause for a little nap. Meanwhile, the tortoise continued to persevere, plodding along one step at a time. Sometime later the hare awakened from his nap only to discover that while he rested the tortoise had crossed the finish line. And so goes the moral of the story, “slow and steady wins the race.”

Benjamin Franklin once suggested that, “The noblest question in the world is ‘what good may I do in it?’” William J. Bennett in his The Book of Virtues responded to Franklin’s question with this: “Hang in there!” which as he explains, “is more than an expression of encouragement to someone experiencing hardship or difficulty; it is sound advice for anyone intent on doing good in the world. Whether by leading or prodding others, or improving oneself, or contributing in the thick of things to some larger cause, perseverance is crucial to success.”

So, why is the story of the tortoise and the hare one of my favorites? Maybe it’s because I can identify with both. How cool it would be, I’ve often thought, to be the hare, fast and wily and confident. But in fact my life has been more like that of the tortoise. As a younger man I dreamed of being the fastest one out of the starting blocks, the first to climb to the top. But every time I tried to jump out in front something seemed to fail to work out, and there I was back plodding along one step at a time. Then I remembered how the hare got lulled by his overconfidence into taking a nap, and the next thing he knew he had lost the race. Which means all along there must have been some divine rein pulling me back, saving me from a similar fate. Then I realized, what if I had missed out on leading others, improving myself, or contributing to a larger cause?

Slow and steady does win the race, you know. So, hang in there! and “. . . let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up . . .” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11 

In her bestselling book, Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, Liz Wiseman distinguishes between two types of leaders. One she labels as “multipliers” – thus the title of her book – the opposite being “diminishers”. Multipliers, she observed, behaved like this: “They applied their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capability of people around them . . . Ideas grew, challenges were surmounted, hard problems solved. When these leaders walked into a room, light bulbs started going off over people’s heads. . . These leaders seemed to make everyone around them better and more capable. . .” In contrast, “diminishers” tended to “drain intelligence and capability out of the people around them. Their focus on their own intelligence and their resolve to be the smartest person in the room had a diminishing effect on everyone.”

Recently I picked up another term compatible with “multipliers”. I learned it from one of my clients, a high-level leader in a large organization – and a multiplier – except he refers to himself as a “sponsor”; that is, he sponsors the people around him to grow and amplify their capabilities. He does this using positive reinforcement, encouragement, and public recognition when appropriate. The results, according to him, are that people become motivated to do anything they can to support the cause of the organization.

Back in my undergraduate days, a lot of attention within academia and corporate circles was being given to Theory X and Theory Y management styles, a concept developed by Douglas McGregor of MIT’s Sloan School of Management in the 1960’s. The two theories suggest this: Theory X, which assumes people are lazy and hate work, requires that managers must rely on threat and coercion in order to motivate employees. Theory Y, on the other hand, assumes people are naturally ambitious and enjoy work, thus respond well to positive motivation.

Which theory is true? According to Wiseman’s research people who work for multipliers / sponsors (Theory Y) are statistically 2.1 times more productive than those who work for diminishers (Theory X) – over twice as productive! Supportive words can make all the difference. “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.”

“Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’, ‘No’ . . .” – Matthew 5:37 

Dan Sullivan in his book How the Best Get Better describes what he calls the four habits of common decency. (1) Show up on time; (2) Do what you say you’re going to do; (3) Finish what you start; and (4) Say please and thank you. I’ve often thought that if a young person embarking on a new career were to ask for my advice I would first encourage that person to strive for excellence at his or her chosen profession, becoming the best they can be. Then, and of equal importance, I would share with them Dan Sullivan’s four habits of common decency and advise that they focus on developing those habits. Why? Because all else being equal, it is character that will be the tipping point in the level of one’s success, besides being the right thing to do.

I’m reminded of the story about a young family from my small northwest Texas hometown who like many folks in that part of the state during the mid-1950’s found themselves burdened with debt and struggling to make ends meet due to a severe and extended drought. This family, like many others, was ultimately forced to move away for better paying jobs and more promising opportunities. When they left town it seemed they owed one of the local grocers a large sum of money on their grocery bill which they were unable to pay. But rather than just walking away from the debt, they instead went to the grocer and promised to settle the account as soon as they got back on their feet. Sure enough true to their word they did indeed over time repay the debt, every penny. Eventually they not only got back on their feet but actually grew to become quite prosperous in their new life.

The importance of character should never be underestimated in our respective endeavors. And while there is always a need for people who are excellent at what they do, there is an even greater demand for competent people who happen to be of good character, who do the right things for the right reasons – like: Show up on time; Do what you say you’re going to do; Finish what you start; Say please and thank you. Or as scripture tells us, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’, ‘No’” . . . like the example of the young couple who repaid their debt to the grocer, doing what they said they were going to do.

“But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand.” – Isaiah 32:8 

A tornado touched down in a somewhat upscale neighborhood this past week, one of many episodes of violent weather that occurred across much of our nation. In this instance, while thankfully no one was injured, there was still considerable property damage due to fallen trees, blown down fences, broken windows, and serious roof destruction leading to water damage inside the homes. The neighborhood was a mess.

The film footage of the aftermath reported by local television stations not only revealed the extent of the damage, but in the background you could see scads of people busy cleaning up debris, boarding up broken windows, and climbing on rooftops to make temporary repairs as best they could. Alas! – these were not professional disaster responders, just regular folks, neighbors helping neighbors.

A few weeks ago, an elderly neighbor fell in her driveway while going to get the mail and was unable to get up. Seeing her predicament, we rushed out the front door to assist her. Thankfully, except for a few scratches, she was not seriously hurt, and we were able to help her up and return safely back inside her home. Neighbors helping neighbors, of which we have more often been the grateful recipients than the helpers.

Such noble acts of kindness and generosity involve no fanfare; it is simply what neighbors do for each other; what caring people do. And there are lots of kind, generous, caring people around – more than we can imagine.

In her poem Nobility nineteenth century American poet Alice Cary penned these beautiful words: “True worth is in being, not seeming / In doing, each day that goes by / Some little good – not in dreaming / Of great things to do by and by. / For whatever men say in their blindness, / And spite of the fancies of youth, / There’s nothing so kingly as kindness, / And nothing so royal as truth.”

“But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand.” Or as Mother Teresa once said, “We cannot do great things on this earth, only small things with great love.” Neighbors helping neighbors, how noble is that!