An often overlooked quality necessary to being a good leader is humility. And one place in which that humility becomes essential is in the area of mentoring.
Dads and moms mentor. Coaches mentor. Bosses mentor. Pastors and community leaders and CEO’s and PTA’s and grandma’s mentor.
Mentoring essentially means walking with someone in a less experienced or less mature position, and acting as a forerunner, or sage, who can warn of pitfalls, hurdles, shortcomings, and blind spots along the way.
Mentor-leaders help to mold and shape those who are following, and this is where the humility comes in. At some point those people being led are going to mature to the position of ‘peer’, and begin to recognize YOUR weaknesses. Point out YOUR failures.
And they may be right.
If you do your job well as a leader, that day will come sooner rather than later. And without humility, you will become unsafe, defensive, offensive, unapproachable. And your leadership will grind to a halt.
It takes humility to receive corrective input from people with whom you have had a mentoring role. But this ability is what makes you a great leader.
Take your people to the next level by modeling humility when being corrected.
