Recently I visited a friend of mine, a former provincial. During the course of our conversation he mentioned the name of a young priest who would soon be going for higher studies in spirituality. Having known something about the community where this priest had worked, I remarked that he had not done too well there. To this my friend replied, “He does everything by himself. He does not like to consult anyone. It would be good for him to listen to others.” This priest, in other words, was lacking interpersonal humility.
We have described humility as the capacity to have an accurate knowledge of oneself, value others, be open to learn and see oneself as part of the greater reality. There are different types or dimensions of humility each emphasizing one or other aspect of this virtue. Knowing these dimensions can help a leader to interact with others more effectively.
Intellectual Humility: This refers to an awareness of the limits of one’s knowledge, willingness to admit one’s mistakes, openness to feedback and readiness to learn from others. Intellectual humility can be considered from different perspectives:
- internal, that is at the level of thoughts and musings that remain within oneself without being outwardly expressed. These can be a) about oneself, this needs inquiring within, e.g. am I seeing clearly? or b) about others, this requires focussing on others, e.g. what is it that the other person is really believing?
- expressed, that is at the level of action and behaviour that can be seen. This also can be a) about oneself, this requires integrity, e.g. is my action consistent with what I believe? or b) about others, this calls for relating respectfully and with trust e.g. Is my treatment of the other respectful even though the other’s views are different?
Jose Kuttianimattathil, sdb
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