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Be humble: How to use humility to help you get ahead when you know you’re nice
It’s hard to be humble. Especially when you’re around individuals who don’t work as hard as you, aren’t as passionate as you or simply don’t match your commitment, finding the motivation to still treat them as equal can be difficult.
But what if I told you that humility can advance you in life; that, through humbleness, you can win people over, strive in the workplace and conquer any social setting?
When you’re on the climb upwards you’re inevitably going to work hand in hand with people who you fundamentally juxtapose and who you may know more than.
You very well may be the best photographer on the team or the best coder in the company or even have better organizational skills than your creative director. These are all realities that more than possible.
However, a lot of us go wrong with how we handle these situations.
Everyday people prematurely leave companies, butt heads with bosses or tarnish much-needed connections all because they knew it all.
While they very well may have known more and been better suited for the gig, what purpose does it serve if you lose an opportunity because of it?
When you choose humility over proving a point you’re not succumbing, you’re being strategic. It’s a matter of understanding the big picture versus flexing your ego.
As impossible as it can be at times when we actively choose humbleness over showing off, we move up the ladder faster and we foster respect that goes beyond any talent we may think we have.
People management
People management is an underrated and very real skillset to have.
Whether it’s your crappy 9-5, the interns you’ve been grouped with or a team you handpicked yourself, mastering the management of multiple personalities may be your single saving grace in outlasting the competition and getting ahead.
As Jay- Z said, “It’s politics as usual,” and much is the case when you’re forced to deal with people in a position of power or who momentarily dictate your future.
No one likes being told what to do or likes hearing how to do something better, so approaching these moments with sincerity and fragileness is imperative.
Pick spots to voice your opinion; find ways to relate with co-workers on a human level — even the ones you dislike; and never complain.
It’s not about being a pushover as much as it’s about making yourself as marketable as possible as someone to get along with. You can be amazing at your job, but if no one likes you and you can’t get along with people you disagree with, you won’t go far.
Example living
The great poet Lil Wayne once said, “Real G’s move in silence like lasagna,” and honestly, truer words have never been spoken.
When it comes down to it, it’s all about letting your work show for itself.
You can talk until you’re blue in the face, complain about how things are being run badly or call out others all day long, but you won’t get people to do what you want them to do unless you’re doing it yourself first.
Actions drown out words by a longshot and the same goes for creatives and entrepreneurs alike. If you feel like you should be higher in a company or paid more or given more opportunity, show that in how hard you work.
We can dictate leverage by the value we bring to the table, and that should be our focus, not in trying to take the reigns and muscling in our opinions.
Worth works
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At the end of the day, what you can prove you can bring to the table will go further than any creative debate or conflict of interest you may have.
The ultimate humbleness is putting your head down and working — it yields the most results and earns the most respect.
If you decided that working with a particular group or being employed at a certain company is necessary for getting to where you need to be, then it’s up to you to learn the balance of standing up for yourself while not burning bridges.
Talent always rises to the top. No matter the powers that be or those who are ahead, if you really feel that you’re as good as you think you are, prove that and let the chips fall where they may.
When we’re humble, we attract the right type of people and we make impressions that go further than anything that will ever come out of our mouths.
We can still be confident, strong and opinionated while being humble. Humbleness is the strategy of getting ahead — it’s intentional and it will set you apart from the rest.