How to be humble without putting yourself down..

I recently finished the book “Gestão Fácil” and it is about a Brazilian entrepreneur and how he came to be one of the country’s most successful franchise owner. The book was very direct and filled with management ideas both new and old. You could tell, despite being very successful that he is very humble, as he concluded his final remarks:

“I don’t feel I am at the end, I see another thirty years ahead of me. And more than this vision, I have a strong desire to continue feeling that I don’t know anything, that there is still a world to learn.”

— Oséias Gomes

This quote reminded me of my previous job Where my role was a Training Business Partner which meant I had to bring in strategies on how to train the employees, including adult learning theories, methodologies, strategies and facilitation.

Even though I had confidence in my job, I had to constantly be learning other roles, asking questions and coming from a place where I knew nothing in order to create a program that would meet the needs for the job. However, I had a few situations where people would walk in the door, new to the company and the sector in which we operated in, but they had to show some authority. These people usually did not listen or worse would speak over me or others, and in my attempt to correct their mistakes they became defensive and usually tried to blame someone else!

Regardless of your age, your social status or your income, being humble will forever be a prestige in society. That is because being humble is not about being poor, being dumb or not being prosperous, au contraire, being humble is about listening, acting in a polite manner of respect towards other and most importantly not being arrogant.

My mother and I once met this woman, she worked for a cleaning company and barely spoke any English. My mother befriended her and she said she would accept some donations from us, so we gathered everything and brought it to her house, a very simple rented apartment in Lowell, Massachusetts. She offered us a cup of coffee and over casual conversation she mentioned she owned a few lots in the center of a city called Londrina in Brazil. We left and in the car my mother said “no one would ever say this woman is financially rich based on how she dresses or how she carries herself, take this lesson with you, never judge anyone based on looks.

What it mean’s to be humble?

Here are some characteristics of people who are humble.

1. They practice effective listening

2. They don’t have something to say about everything

3. They don’t act like they know everything

4. They will only correct you if ask them to

5. They say please and thank you

6. They ask permission to touch or use things that don’t belong to them

7. They recognize they are always learning

8. They treat everyone with respect

9. They are willing to ask for help when needed

10. They practice mindfulness and gratitude

As you can see being humble is about carrying yourself with respect and kindness and treating people around you with the same attitude. It is knowing that you are important but other people are important too, no one is more or less than anyone else but we compliment each other in our differences and experiences.

Therefore you don’t need to put yourself down or act as if you were less then someone just because you decided to be respectful towards them and listen to what they have to say. I garantee more and more people will be drawn to you when you learn to listen with a humble attitude.