When You Are Building a Team, Hire For Humility

I’m going to tell a story. Some years ago, I became a Creative Director and was taking over a neglected team. They needed rebuilding, restructuring, and re-motivating.

I was taken for lunch by my CEO, and he asked me the question: “What are you hiring for—1) Smarts, 2) Confidence, or 3) Humility?” I immediately said, “Smarts.” I needed thinkers, conceptualizers, and people capable of leading clients—I was quick in my first response. My second was to ask, “What do you hire for?” and his response was, “Humility.”

“Humility is a weakness,” I thought. “Who is going to want to work with weak leaders?” But he explained—people with humility never “manage up”; they are honest with situations and with themselves. They are often lifelong learners, so they listen to people around them. He considers people with humility to be those with the highest level of integrity and the most ability to grow.

The opposite of humility is ego, and I have seen and experienced this. An inability to accept that their ideas are not the best for the client or the company, an inability to listen and allow others to grow around them, and a belief that they are the best—these are all symptoms of ego. When they aren’t the best, they may tear others down. Ego can be very toxic.

He went on to explain, “There are negatives to humility—sometimes negative self-talk can destroy confidence, so I find my role is often one of encouragement and ensuring the right words are in their heads.” What I loved about this is it forced me to understand my strengths and to hire people who I know will feed off my personality and I theirs.

I always look for questions in interviews to get a sense of where candidates might fall on the scale of ego and humility. My two favorite questions are: 1) Rate yourself as a presenter out of 10 (anyone who answers 8 or above fails the test), and 2) If I asked an old mentor or manager, what feedback would they have for you to help you grow? (If they can answer that authentically, it gives you insights into how they perceive themselves).

To this day, I always hire for humility. At the end of the day, we all want to be confident in ourselves and, as stewards of people, create leaders who are confident in their abilities and accomplishments. But there is a way to get there. Neither ego nor humility is inherently right or wrong, but if I had the choice to show up every day and work with either, I’d want a group that creates a culture of encouragement, positivity, and honesty.