Staying humble is the way to get ahead in business  

Discover the surprising truth about leadership success: humility, not arrogance, paves the way to the top.

Amid a year of elections and leadership battles and following the airing of the 18th series of BBC’s The Apprentice, you may be forgiven for thinking that arrogance or self-promotion is a pathway to success in business. But new research shows that the opposite is actually true.

A study, led by academics at the University of Sussex Business School, has challenged the conventional narrative of leadership and advises those seeking to reach the top to stay humble.

Dr Elsa Chan, of the University of Sussex Business School, and researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder, and Nanyang Technological University, conducted a survey of 610 leaders across 18 industries and 21 job functions. They examined the relationship between humility, mentoring, status, and promotability, and found that leaders who were most humble had the potential to wield significant influence within their organisations.

The research showed that those demonstrating characteristics of humility – notably being open to feedback, appreciative of others’ strengths and contributions and honest about mistakes – can accrue trust by building strong relationships amongst their colleagues; all of which can be instrumental in advancing careers and gaining influence within their organisations.

Dr Elsa Chan, Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at the University of Sussex Business School, said:

“While some leaders climb the corporate ladder by taking a dominance route which could be costly, our research reveals that humble leaders take an alternative route – the status route that increases their influence.

“Our study suggests that humble leaders can create and capture some human capital value through informal mentoring and enhance promotability within organisations. It sheds light on the potential of humble leaders to not only positively impact their followers but also to advance their own careers within organisations.”

The researchers focused on human capital theory, which suggests people can improve their value with a greater focus on education and training. They found that humble leaders engage in behaviours that develop others naturally and, through this informal mentoring, build human capital and gain prestige, respect, and prominence.

Co-author on the study, Dr David Hekman, Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, said:

“The general assumption is that humility doesn’t aid a leader’s personal career growth, with non-humble leaders often seen enjoying significant career success. Our study challenges this notion.

“This new understanding is crucial for re-evaluating current perceptions in human resource management about the value of humility in leadership.”

Co-author on the study, Prof Maw Der Foo, Professor at Nanyang Technological University, said:

“Organisations are encouraged to recognise and promote the role of informal mentoring in aiding the career growth of humble leaders through status enhancement.”

‘An examination of whether and how leader humility enhances leader personal career success” has been published in Human Resource Management.

    Read more

    Latest News

    Read More

    Separating fact from fiction in hybrid work

    9 October 2024

    Newsletter

    Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

    Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

    Latest HR Jobs

    University of Aberdeen – Directorate of PeopleSalary: Competitive Remuneration package

    Queen Mary University of London – Human ResourcesSalary: £28,879 to £31,585 per annum

    Join Starhotels and become part of the team at our Hotels in London as Complex HR Director. Document all end of months reports for all

    Join Starhotels and become part of the team at our Hotels in London as Complex HR Director. Document all end of months reports for all

    Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

    Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE