While there might be some benefits, the biggest disadvantage of humbleness is that many people are not prepared for it. It's not how the role models on TV act, therefore it's weird.
People often take ego as an indicator for status or intelligence. If you're not asserting yourself, you don't know as well, or you're not as smart as others. Humbleness doesn't mix well with assertiveness. Assertive people need to be humble around humble people, and the other way around. With just two persons it might work, add more and you get interesting group dynamics.
It's perfectly possible to be both humble and assertive. Assertiveness is about having clear boundaries and enforcing them. You can be humble about your place in the wider scheme of things and very assertive within that place.
Humility doesn't mean letting people walk all over you, it means not thinking you're the most important person in the room.
Mr Myagee (sp?) from Karate Kid was both humble and assertive.
People often take ego as an indicator for status or intelligence. If you're not asserting yourself, you don't know as well, or you're not as smart as others.
Once me and colleagues were discussing some technical issue with our customer. At one point I suggested a solution which I wasn't really confident in, but I liked to hear his opinion anyway. The guy listened to me and then, in split second, resumed the previous thread of conversation as if exactly nothing had happened.
I didn't even feel offended, just spent the next minute silently amazed by this weird glitch in human psychology. His reaction looked so automatic that I felt he wouldn't even be able to consciously recall this event afterwards.
Comments
While there might be some benefits, the biggest disadvantage of humbleness is that many people are not prepared for it. It's not how the role models on TV act, therefore it's weird.
People often take ego as an indicator for status or intelligence. If you're not asserting yourself, you don't know as well, or you're not as smart as others. Humbleness doesn't mix well with assertiveness. Assertive people need to be humble around humble people, and the other way around. With just two persons it might work, add more and you get interesting group dynamics.
It's perfectly possible to be both humble and assertive. Assertiveness is about having clear boundaries and enforcing them. You can be humble about your place in the wider scheme of things and very assertive within that place.
Humility doesn't mean letting people walk all over you, it means not thinking you're the most important person in the room.
Mr Myagee (sp?) from Karate Kid was both humble and assertive.
People often take ego as an indicator for status or intelligence. If you're not asserting yourself, you don't know as well, or you're not as smart as others.
Once me and colleagues were discussing some technical issue with our customer. At one point I suggested a solution which I wasn't really confident in, but I liked to hear his opinion anyway. The guy listened to me and then, in split second, resumed the previous thread of conversation as if exactly nothing had happened.
I didn't even feel offended, just spent the next minute silently amazed by this weird glitch in human psychology. His reaction looked so automatic that I felt he wouldn't even be able to consciously recall this event afterwards.