“After Jesus had washed their feet, he put his outer garment back on and returned to his place at the table…” John 13:12 GNT
Having a sense of superiority is satisfying. You feel like the boss and just want everyone else to do your bidding. Once you make a sound, everyone should figure out what you want and do it right away. It’s easy to think this is just you exercising the rights of your office or role, but the foundation is simply pride.
As a leader, I have been in conversations where after returning from an event, the other leaders on the team talk about how poorly they were served and continue the rant for the entire journey, making a mockery of the little service we received. I hardly saw things the same way and felt I didn’t understand the benefits of my office. For me, the fact that I was even served was a privilege. The difference was that I didn’t know what expectations to have, and so I had none.
Pride makes you entitled. Humility moves you to occasionally put down that title. In the focus scripture, Christ’s office wasn’t threatened. His place of authority and power at the table which he stood from to serve His team remained vacant until He returned to it. That’s the level of self-worth and confidence that we need to have.
Research shows that people who show humility tend to be more self-aware and are less likely to over-inflate their abilities. In other words, when you’re about to think too highly of yourself, you can become self-aware and curb it. Humble people aren’t better than proud ones. They know when and how to regulate their thoughts.
How can you then flip pride on its head, so you stay humble?
1. When you feel you’re better and smarter than everyone else, let someone else get celebrated for an idea they contributed, instead of you. It’s super easy for workaholics to feel bigger, better, and faster because of how they work. But poke that insecurity by giving someone else a chance.
2. When you feel you should be treated a certain way, cancel all expectations. When you have no expectations, then there will be no standards to use to grade performance. Sure, this isn’t applicable in all cases because quality must be retained.
3. When you want to do your worst, change your mood and be your best. Switch from anger to a smile and from bitterness to joy. Regulating your emotions this way is a skill that can be learned.
The quest for perfection can make us horrible people if we don’t checkmate it. Find your version of washing the feet of your team members and just do it, one step at a time.
Today’s Task: Do something positive that you’ll usually not do that will make someone else wonder what you smoked this morning.
Know someone who needs to come down from their high horse? Share this with them.
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