How Ratan Tata Found Power in Humility
For leaders, staying humble can be the best way to get results.
The Indian industrialist Ratan Tata didn’t rise from poverty to become a billionaire: he was born to a well-off Bombai family, lived a life of privilege, received the best education money could buy, and went on to become chairman of the Tata Group, the company founded by his great grandfather.
That only makes it more remarkable that Tata became known in India and around the world, not for his ego or sense of entitlement but for his remarkable humility. He flew economy and was known for going out of his way to visit with sick employees; he ran campaigns to battle malnutrition and support animal welfare; he created scholarship programs to help young Indians get a good education.
Above all, Tata saw others as his equals, no matter their station in life. That’s an important lesson for all leaders because when you put yourself above others, you’re also setting yourself apart from them, limiting your ability to influence and learn from those around you.
The Power of Humility
Tata understood, on a deep level, just how dangerous it is for a leader to become isolated from those around them. It’s a risk every leader faces: the higher you climb and the more power you acquire, the harder it gets to connect with other people in meaningful and human ways. That limits your ability to get honest feedback or fresh perspectives on your challenges.
Tata also understood that you can’t beat isolation simply by networking with other CEOs or talking to your direct reports. Instead, you need to look beyond your immediate circle and find ways to connect with people from very different walks of life whose experiences, knowledge, and insights vary wildly from your own.
That’s what Tata showed every time he stopped to chat with a janitor or street vendor—or when he hobnobbed with his neighbors on an economy flight. He had the humbleness to know that he wasn’t better than anyone—and that everyone had important lessons to teach him if he was only willing to reach out and connect with them.
Humbleness Is a Superpower
This kind of humbleness is a superpower that any leader can cultivate—if they’re willing to put their ego in check, set aside self-limiting notions of status or propriety, and simply reach out to others.
It’s not always an easy thing to do—as leaders, we often need to use our status, authority, and ego to help us get things done! However, a good leader understands that “control and demand” often don’t lead to the results he wants. It’s been proven ineffective again and again—to get results, we need care and kindness far more than fear or rules. Sometimes, we need to show strength—but often, we need to have the confidence and inner strength to bring out the “human within” and let others in.
Knowledge Mindfulness is, in part, a way of navigating that process. When we understand the whole spectrum of knowledge, with all its multidimensionality and interconnections, we can cultivate our abilities as leaders to reach deep into ourselves and out to others.
Humbleness, as Tata shows us, isn’t a sign of weakness. When it’s paired with Knowledge Mindfulness, it’s a way to unlock your inner strength, and cultivate the interconnections that ultimately make us more powerful—by being more approachable, and thus far more effective as leaders.
