Humility

01.11.2012 // Arte Nathan, Authors, The Arte of Motivation // Pamela // No Comments

“To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.”  -Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (1706] – 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.  He was elected to the Second Continental Congress and worked on a committee of five that helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. Though much of the writing is Thomas Jefferson’s, much of the contribution is Franklin’s.

Every member of every team needs to have humility, courtesy and nobleness.  Humility to supervisors is respectful and supports the notion that while you can disagree, you should never be disagreeable.  Courtesy to equals shows that you care about and play well with others, which is very important in a team environment.  And nobleness to those who look up to you proves you understand and appreciate the role you play and the importance of how others perceive you.  The people who prance around whenever they do something right shows that they have none of these qualities.  Those kinds of vain demonstrations are insensitive, childish and inappropriate.  On any given play, participants can be successful or not – and reacting demonstrably to either result is poor form.  Because it’s not about you or any one play or task, it’s more about the team and its overall effort.  Remember to act and react appropriately and professionally today and make sure others see you that way.  That’s team spirit.