The greatest lesson I have learned throughout my life is an integral concept I was taught by my parents during my upbringing. It is simple, yet clever: to be humble.
When encountering new people and experiences, you must always approach it from an open minded perspective. By having this mind set, you will reduce the impact of your biases and stereotypes that can often act as obstacles to group performance. It is only with this mind set that you can become an efficient and valuable team member, with abilities to perform well under pressure.
It is a common saying that the greatest leaders will not call themselves the best. This reinforces the importance of being humble – in any position or career – in order to become successful. By doing so, you are likely to gain the trust and respect of your co-workers, which is a fundamental building block of all teams.
In the words of motivational speaker Jim Rohn, “the challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” In essence, the message is that strong leaders have strong abilities and traits, while still ensuring that their values and abilities do not make them believe they are better or more worthy than any other human. This is they key to success in any field.