Last week, Brett wrote a blog about the importance of humility in the workplace. One of my favorite quotes from an article by Gwen Moran in Fast Company states, “Being humble doesn’t mean being a chump. Use humility to be more effective in these six ways: be open to others’ opinions, tend to others’ needs, admit mistakes, accept ambiguity, self-reflect and let people do their jobs.” This triggered me to go re-read this blog post written on the Mind Body Green website about empathy in the workplace. Similarly, there was a quote in there by Michael Ventura that said, “In the business world, a lot of people misconstrue empathy as being nice. But empathy is a skill for perspective taking. It’s when you learn to get out of your own bias enough to see the world from other perspectives and ultimately gain a deeper understanding that can inform your actions.” Boom – humility and empathy go hand-in-hand. Empathy helps one avoid being judgmental and that lack of judgement towards oneself and others helps make you humble.
At Explore, culture is something that is incredibly important. Per Brett’s last post, humility, accountability and transparency are just a few of the characteristics we are constantly encouraged to embody – to the point where we are reviewed on them annually. Additionally, Explore was a part of WorldBlu and prides itself on being a democratic workplace (if you want to learn more about that, you can read about it here). While we aren’t a part of WorldBlu anymore, those core values are still at the heart of what makes Explore unique. And articles like this are good reminders that managing out of fear, overloading employees and being critical aren’t the cornerstone of a happy workplace.
The big “a-ha!” moment for me was how these two characteristics are defined. Being empathetic and humble doesn’t mean being a people-pleaser or doormat. It is about being a team player, encouraging and empowering others. Then taking joy in their success. It is not about being right all the time (who is?!), it is about owning mistakes and then learning and teaching from them. It’s about being human. And remembering others are human too.