Humility excels confidence

The long road of humility is better than the proud confidence our society esteems.

Who doesn’t want to be confident? To never doubt that one has made the right choices; focused on the highest priorities. To be self-assured in one’s own ability; to face all problems with certainty of success. Confidence is heralded as a very great virtue; in business, sports, government and society the confident are highly esteemed. “They are confident because they are equipped, they are prepared, they are ready for challenges. They are confident because they are strong, intelligent, and perfect.” At least, this is what we imagine, what we expect. But Pope Francis objects, “The great leaders of the people of God were men that left room for doubt” ({krames-humility}, pg. 53).

Room for doubt? Really? That sounds like a terrible idea for a business person, let alone a pontiff. Doubt at the head of a business, or a religious community, should spell indecision and foster a lack of respect. Yet Pope Francis' explanation matches the upside-down nature of reality in God’s kingdom. The leader is the one who serves, who identifies with his people in all their weaknesses, their periods of darkness, their fears, and also their hopes, their days of glory and their strengths. But Pope Francis' most poignant point is that the leader needs to be pure, and the experience of profound weakness is purifying and humbling. And this is what any leader needs, whether in business or religion.

Pope Francis' biographer, Paul Vallely, has a most intriguing observation, “[Bergoglio’s] decision to embrace radical humility was something of a struggle against his own personality with its dogmatic and authoritarian streaks” ({krames-humility}, pg. 67). This gives me hope that the mystifying humility of one of the world’s most powerful men was not something he inherited, but a product of regular training over many years of failure and success. As I pursue the business world, I want to take Pope Francis' words to heart and resist the sea of suits and self-assured faces with their message of confidence for a better way, a way of healthy self-doubt and reliance upon others. This is a person I would wish to follow - I will aspire to be that man.

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