Humble Leadership Quotes

“Leadership” is wanting to do something new and better, and getting others to go along.”
― Edgar H Schein, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust

“. All too often, problems aren’t in the “nodes” (individuals), but in the interactions (relationships). With the exponential rise in contingencies and interactions, we see signs of a deep malaise in many organizations that can be characterized most clearly as the persistent failure of both downward and upward communication, reflecting indifference and mistrust up and down the hierarchy. Quality and safety problems don’t result from technological failures but from socio-technical failures of communication (Gerstein, 2008).”
― Edgar H Schein, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust

“Leadership in this environment is categorically humbling because it is virtually impossible for an individual to accumulate enough knowledge to figure out all of the answers. Interdependence and constant change become a way of life in which humility in the face of this complexity has become a critical survival skill.”
― Edgar H Schein, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust

“In our view, leadership is always a relationship, and truly successful leadership thrives in a group culture of high openness and high trust. Leadership and culture can be seen as two sides of the same coin, and culture is quintessentially a group phenomenon. Though this book focuses on a new model of leadership, it is equally a book about culture and group dynamics.”
― Edgar H Schein, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust