Lead with Humility

The current global financial crisis has highlighted flaws in our economic model, financial system and management practices. One of them is our unquestioned adherence to management ‘best practices’ that are often created by academicians with little real business experience.

I remembered during my MBA classes, my professors will drill in us the value of management-by-objectives. Call it by any other name, it is about getting results and moving people to achieve the objectives that we have set as an organisation. But when I tried researching up the ‘father of modern management’, I find little evidence of Drucker having owned any substantial business. If you don’t consider business consulting and writing books a business, then he never owned any business, period. I am not questioning Drucker’s genius, mind you, for I am among his millions of fans and believers.

I can name you many management gurus and ‘thought leaders’ who have neither managed not put much of these ‘thoughts’ into real use. If you have to learn how to manage from someone, I suggest you do so from a real-life entrepreneur or CEO, who will tell you the one infallible truth about management – humility drives success.

I have met numerous exemplary business tycoons, who not only do not act like one, but constantly remind me to treat them like any business partner. They wear a constant smile, rarely raises their voice and do not flash their wealth. Almost without exception, they are close to their religion, spend quality time with their family and have adoring employees.

This week alone, I have picked up 3 cards of successful entrepreneurs, billionaires actually, who carry cards with no job title. No grandiose CEO or Chief Transformational Architect or Founder titles for them, just a simple Mr.

Top of my mind would be Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew. Not a business tycoon, per se, but certainly an entrepreneur in every sense of the word. He’s forever serious, rarely smiles and has a reputation for being tough on subordinates. Yet having met him in person on several occasions, I can only remember his humility and the ease with which he relates to people around him. And no one would say the Minister Mentor do not manage by objectives.

I have also met numerous up and coming entrepreneurs. Most of whom are young, ambitious, and idealistic. And many are in a hurry and have no time for a journalist like me. Unless there’s some free publicity for them at the end of the conversation: management by objectives, remember? As some of these business people move up the wealth chart, the less approachable they become. And the longer their title and salutation become. It is funny what money and fame do to people.

A good example is an American tycoon with his own TV show. He’s brash, rude and simply obnoxious. Despite all his claims to fame and business successes, I’ve been waiting for a decade now for his name to appear in Fortune 500, or the Forbes Rich List. He’s skirted a couple of times in the lower end of Forbes’ list, but I will be really surprise that his company will ever make the Fortune list. And this is in the land of obnoxious people where money can buy you both fame and, yes, more money.

TOO BUSY TO BOTHER

As business people, we are constantly juggling multiple responsibilities. This means less time for things that matter, such as being nice to people around us. To compound the issue further, most of the people we meet on a daily basis may not have the same mindset and demand on time as we do. It is easy, therefore, to be mistaken as being aloof and arrogant.

It is important as such, to cultivate a habit of paying attention to people around us and the things that they have to say. We all know that listening is the best skill you will have as a leader and entrepreneur, but few of us put this to good use. As we age and our business grow, we need to constantly align our priorities to make the best use of our time and attention. But no mater how busy we have become, we need to remember to be humble.

Humility not only make us better leaders, but also make tremendous business sense. Suppliers give the best goods to good clients, customers prefer buying from nice people, and employees rather work for humble bosses. If that’s not management best practice, I don’t know what is.

Manage by objectives, but lead with humility.

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This is my monthly article in SME Magazine August 2009 - Perspective Section. If you haven't read a copy of SME Magazine, head over to your nearest bookstore for a copy!