I recently shared a thought on Facebook about humility:
From the view of humility, we gain a perspective of our place in the greater whole and stay in the flow of Life and Love.
My post was a spiritual assertion. From a spiritual perspective, the greater whole is a collective consciousness that transcends individual minds. Everything in existence is interconnected, and together they form a unified, meaningful whole.
Here, I want to share ideas about the greater whole from a sociological perspective. The greater whole is a collective identity, the sense of being part of a group (culture, nation, movement) where personal identity is shaped and fulfilled through belonging. My work and research have found that a leader’s cultural humility is essential to creating an environment where people can feel they belong and contribute to the greater whole as their authentic selves.
What is cultural humility?
Culture is defined as the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group. Humility is a balanced understanding of oneself, recognizing strengths and weaknesses, and having a sense that one’s knowledge is limited as to what truly is.
Cultural humility is maintaining a willingness to suspend what you know, or what you think you know, about a person based on generalizations about their culture. A leader practicing cultural humility – being curious about and honoring cultural differences – influences how individuals show up and perform in groups and their sense of belonging.
Practicing cultural humility requires being mindful of personal biases and any tendency toward ethnocentrism – the belief that the people, customs, and traditions of your own race or country are better than those of other races or countries. One simple approach is curiosity and perspective taking. In the terminology of EQ, perspective taking is cognitive empathy, when one thinks about the feelings of another rather than feels them directly.
Easy enough. People want to be seen and heard. It’s difficult to connect with another human being without first seeking to understand what matters to them about life, work, and the world around them. This is especially important when leading a team composed of people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and circumstances.
Cognitive Empathy and Perspective Taking
Perspective taking is the ability to understand and appreciate viewpoints other than one’s own. Cognitive empathy is the EQ skill that enables curiosity about the perspectives, experiences, stories and cultures of different others and can deconstruct and counteract bias and stereotypes. It’s how we apply The Platinum Rule: Do unto others as they would have you do unto them. The Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, can be one-sided, not taking into consideration what the other person wants or needs. Cognitive empathy develops cultural humility.
Combined, cultural humility and perspective taking remove labels and allow one to approach each human encounter with an open mind (and heart) and respect for the value each individual brings to the greater whole.
