The power of humility is so important in leadership, the PM should remember that - Daxa Patel

No contrition and no ounce of humility. Was this arrogance or a personality disorder where she simply failed to sense the mood of the country?

It was shocking to watch. As she left the press conference, a journalist shouted, “are you going to apologise?” Of course there was no apology on offer until a BBC interview this week when the PM conceded “we made some mistakes”.

The chaos at Westminster shows an appalling lack of humility and a failure to recognise the consequences of their actions.

The definition of humility in Collins English dictionary means ‘a state of being humble’. As per Google, humility is ‘the quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance’ or ‘a freedom from pride, arrogance and ego’.

I know as humans we are bound to have these not so nice traits, even I do, but it pays to keep these in check from time to time, and more so when we are with others as knowingly or unknowingly, what we say and how we act affects others as well as ourselves.

Patrick Lencioni, in his book the Ideal Team Leader talks about the three virtues of an ideal team player. They are humble, hungry and smart.

For example, when a person admits to their mistakes, they demonstrate humility. When a person is keen to serve, they show hunger, and a desire to make a difference for the greater good. Smart in this context does not mean a clever person, but it means someone who has the emotional intelligence to sense how others feel about their actions and words.

Our leader appears to have failed these three virtues as there is no humility and Liz Truss is not a consensus builder. Quite possibly there are reasons for the way she behaves but, I do take exception when she criticises Roundhay School as not doing enough to empower their students during her time there.

Thinking about leaders who have shown an abundance of humility, a few greats come to mind. Nelson Mandela served 27 years in Robben Island but when he was released, he advocated forgiveness against those who imprisoned him.

I digress a bit, but I remember Nelson Mandela visiting our great city of Leeds and seeing him in the Millennium Square. He came on to the stage wearing his wonderful colourful shirt dancing away to the music. Just writing and recalling this incident gives me goosebumps, I was lucky to see him in person.

Here was a leader who didn’t say he was a leader, but we were left in awe of this humble man who radiated humility in spades. He remains one of the most admired leaders in the world.

The other leader who embodied humility was our Queen. I remember seeing a TV clip of her at one of her recent charity events where she was looking at her birthday cake placed facing the wrong way for the benefit of the camera crew, and she joked ‘I don’t matter’.

We do not have to look far to find our own hero as a role model of humility. In my case my dear father. My dad was a single dad and a businessman with children from age five to 18 to raise when he was left to take care of them. Amidst all that, he still found time to serve the community, but I don’t recall him boasting that he was a superman though in my eyes he was.

Another leader I would like to mention is a very good friend of mine, Val Hewison who was the dynamic chief executive of Carers Leeds where I was a trustee. She was also a primary carer of her mam. She combined her professional and personal role in the thick of the lockdown, but she never shouted from the rooftops that she was a superwoman, but she and many other carers out there, caring for their folks are just that, superhuman beings whom we are proud to know.

These people are our unsung heroes, they do their bit silently, with humility and for love. These are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. John. G. Miller said, ‘Humility is the cornerstone of leadership’.

Those who consider themselves to be super important due to their job title and power will get their comeuppance. This country is bigger and more important than them.

The truth about our human existence is that we are here one day and gone the next.

Remembering that helps us keep our feet on the ground as we don’t know when we might slip up, and wouldn’t it be nice if we can look back on our actions and say, hand on heart, I am just a humble soul sent to serve.

Daxa Manhar Patel is a solicitor, author and executive coach.