Humility: A Key to Personal and Professional Growth

We’ve been thinking a lot lately about humility.

When you think about the Motivator of the Millennium, odds are good that you think of Keith at some of his most hyped up, expressive moments – the moments where he is masterfully inspiring a crowd, challenging them with difficult questions, or just allowing them to have fun and enjoy good music, beach balls or Silly String.

But the work that Keith does would not work if he was not also a person of great humility.

Throughout his career, Keith has always been eager to seek out the counsel of mentors. He has taken the advice of those mentors to heart – even when their words were difficult to hear and pushed him in ways that made him uncomfortable. And as he has gotten that advice, he has accepted it and used it to grow and improve.

At the same time, Keith has consistently had the wisdom and courage to surround himself with capable, talented people who know things that he doesn’t.

When he is working with Carl Millender of and StarMaxx Media, for example, he does not try to step in and tell Carl how to do his video production.

Instead, he gives Carl the space and time he needs, and then he steps back and lets him get to work. At times, recognizing what you don’t know, and finding people to help you do it, can be the most important skill set to have.

The same is true when we from The Institute for Educational and Social Justice are working alongside Keith, conducting research or leading workshops.

We all agree on the roles we each are playing, and we trust each other to use our skills to get the job done. And periodically, we all sit down together and speak honestly about how we are each doing, and how we might do better – even though those conversations can be difficult to have.

Confidence is important, but an attitude of humility is what allows us to learn and grow – to move forward and to improve ourselves.

In what ways do you exercise humility in your personal and professional lives? How might you do better? What steps can you take to ensure that you are continuing to move forward, in confident humility?