Mike Pelfini — 05 June 2025

Humble leadership motivates and empowers employees by encouraging them to contribute their ideas, expertise, and energy in the workplace.

A study of over 100,000 leaders (as written in an article by Joseph Folkman) found that leaders seen as humble were rated more highly by peers and team members than leaders seen as arrogant. Even small increases in humility or arrogance had a big impact on a leader’s effectiveness. At the extremes, the most humble leaders were rated in the top 20%, while the most arrogant fell to the bottom 20%. Developing humble leadership can impact an organization in profound ways.

Leadership accounts for 70% of employee engagement, according to Gallup. Engagement drives bottom line results. This article examines how humility in leadership can motivate employees, and foster organizational growth.

Replace fear with motivation

“Power . . . can cause leaders to become overly obsessed with outcomes and control and, therefore, treat their employees as means to an end,” writes  Dan Cable, professor of organizational behavior at London Business School, in the Harvard Business Review. The result, the author says, is to ramp up people’s fear while driving out positive emotions and stifling the “drive to experiment and learn.” 

The alternative to fear-based leadership is motivation through respect and encouragement. Leaders today are more than just decision makers; they must do more than wield power and demand results to foster sustainable growth. Humble leaders acknowledge that they can benefit from the expertise and experience of the people around them, regardless of power. 

Develop humble leadership

Before considering how to develop humble leadership, let us consider what it is NOT.  Humble leadership “does not equate to being overly passive or indecisive,” as Folkman writes. Nor does it “imply that leaders have low self-esteem, or take on an attitude of servility,” according to Cable. Instead, humble leaders have the “courage and insight to admit that they can benefit from the expertise of others.” Here are three essential elements of humble leadership:

1.       Becoming self-aware. Leaders begin to develop humility by becoming aware of themselves, including strengths, weaknesses, habits, and tendencies. Leaders also need to be aware of how they interact with others, how their comments are received by others, and how they react to feedback – particularly if it is critical. 
2.     Listening to support. The beginning of humble leadership is listening.  “It sounds deceivingly simple: Instead of telling employees how to do their jobs better, start by asking them how you can help them do their jobs better. But the effects of this approach can be powerful,” writes Cable. By focusing on helping team members succeed, humble leadership is related to servant leadership, in which the leader’s primary goal is to empower the team.
3. Recognizing others. Leaders must resist the temptation to shine the spotlight on their own achievements and give credit to their team members. Taking credit where it isn’t deserved is powerful morale-killer. By contrast, recognizing and praising the good work of team members can inspire loyalty and increase engagement. 
4.       Welcoming feedback. Leaders must learn to welcome feedback, suggestions, and even criticism from their team members. Critical feedback can be challenging to the ego, and leaders will need to learn emotional regulation to put their personal feelings to one side. Equally important, leaders must learn to keep an open mind and give fair consideration to ideas different from their own.The result is a “virtuous cycle” of learning and improvement that can transform an organization.

Apply humility in leadership

A recent study found that humble leadership can also “ignite leadership ambition” in team members. It found that leaders who “acknowledged their mistakes, valued their team’s contributions, and welcomed feedback” raised the self esteem and workplace status of their employees. With greater status came the sense of belonging and being “respected and prominent, which boosted their motivation to lead.” 

The authors found that humble leadership was particularly effective at motivating employees who “prize individuality, personal uniqueness, and growth.” Employees who favor group harmony over individual recognition may need different kinds of motivation, the authors write. One size does not fit all. 

One strategy to reach group-oriented employees is to combine humble leadership with training that emphasizes “teamwork, collaboration, and shared successes.” Another approach is to adopt a “deliberately emergent” strategy, in which leaders set broad goals but allow team members to determine collectively how those goals will be achieved. By taking individual differences into account, leaders can empower all team members to be their best selves in the workplace.

How do leaders get the best from their employees? In the past, the answer often revolved around power and control. But times have evolved, and leaders need new skills to motivate and empower their teams.  Humble leadership is a model for the future of work where employees are empowered to give their best. If you would like to learn more, please contact us.

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ForeMeta offers breakthrough leadership coaching to develop CEO self-leadership and leading teams and organizations. We offer both individualized coaching or peer group coaching to help leaders and their teams achieve greater success. To get in touch with us, click here.

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