Abidcation is Not Humility

A central feature of humble power is the fact that shame is the polar opposite of pride. Both pride and shame are self-focused. Humility is other-focused.

While a proud leader will often oppress those affected by their actions, an ashamed leader may fail to fulfill their calling as a leader due to a low view of self. This can result in a cascading diminishment of power throughout the organization. On the surface, shame may appear as humility, but it actually undermines leadership by paralyzing its effectiveness. 

Shame distorts God’s call to leadership by making leaders see themselves as unworthy of their calling. And while there is a biblical call to view oneself as “unworthy” of Jesus, there is a distinction between humble unworthiness and ashamed unworthiness. Christ does not call us to shame, but to a healthy view of our relationship with God and others. A humble leader will have no problem exercising power while leading as a servant of Christ and others.

Ashamed leaders will inevitably intentionally or unintentionally self-sabotage, refusing to use their power even for the good of others out of fear of misusing their power or drawing too much attention to themselves and their flaws. The ashamed leader will undermine their own influence, giving way for unhealthy or toxic behaviours among those who seek to grasp power for themselves and their own agenda.

In my upcoming book series, I expand on four consequences that result from this unhealthy abdication of power as a result of shame: fear of decisiveness; conflict avoidance; approval seeking, and; burnout from lack of delegation.

This last one is interesting because to some people, delegation can seem like abdication. When I say that ashamed leaders tend to abdicate, I am specifically referring to the power they hold, not their tasks. A leader that is afraid of delegating will only see the inherent risks of having someone else “do their work.”

Humble leaders, however, seek out people who can do their work better than they can whenever possible and empower them to succeed. By inviting people into the work of the leader, it not only spreads the workload, but it provides opportunity for additional perspectives, training, and relationship-building.

Both pride and shame resist this because it could cause others to appear more capable, lowering the value of the leader. But a humble leader is uninterested in who gets credit. They are more interested in benefitting the most people possible.

In short, abdication of power is not an act of humility, but a sign of an ashamed leader. The remedy is to embrace humility.