On My Walk (Humility)
“He knows that he doesn’t know it all.”
On my walk this morning I was re-reading, "Good Farming; Clear Thinking; Right Living," a chapter in Nothing To Fear: FDR's Inner Circle And The Hundred Days That Created Modern America.
FDR was considering Henry Wallace, a farmer and champion of farmers, for a cabinet post in his new administration. He invited Wallace to his home in Hyde Park where the two hit it off. After their encounter Wallace wrote the following in his periodical, Wallaces' Farmer:
Roosevelt does not have the extreme pride of personal opinion that has characterized some of our more bull-headed presidents. He knows that he does know it all, and tries to find out all he can from people who are supposed to be authorities.
Knowing that they don't know everything is the one thing ever leader ought to know!
- Humble leaders are learners.
- Humble leaders listen.
- Humble leaders ask questions.
Who will you learn from today?
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
Notes:
- "Roosevelt does not have the extreme pride . . ." from Nothing To Fear: FDR's Inner Circle And The Hundred Days That Created Modern America, by Adam Cohen. New York: The Penguin Press. 2009. Page 129.
- Cohen provides the original sourcing in his footnotes (#44) on page 340.