The Butler Way: Part One (Humility)

Recently, I listened to a podcast entitled Work Life with Adam Grant. He focused on the issue of having too many people on a team trying to be the star rather than those same individuals trying to make the team more successful.

The main illustration for his point was the Butler Basketball Team and their former coach Brad Stevens.

The Butler Bulldogs employ principles that they call The Butler Way, and the more I thought about each of the principles, the more I thought that each of them can make an impact as much off the basketball court as on the basketball court.

The first principle is humility  and even though it seems like a simple principle to live out, many people neglect it without a thought.

The Butler Way describes humility as knowing who we are - strengths and weaknesses.

People who act out of place of humility understand their limits. They also work to fit within their role on the team because their desire is for the team to be successful even if it means that their strength wasn’t the highlight.

While coaching Butler, Brad Stevens would recruit players who were humble, even if that meant sacrificing on talent. His thought is that if a player lacks humility they will care more about their stats (and how they are viewed) rather than the success of the team.

I’ve been on teams that cared more about self than the team, and it never turned out well for the team.

Humility is not a sign of weakness. 

In fact, people who are humble tend to be more helpful and self-aware, which brings great strength to the team.

What would your team look like if each member - including you - acting in humility? What would your family look like if you led it with humility?

All to often, I fail in this area, and I know that so many areas of my life would be better if I would live out humility more consistently ... and not in the fake way (no one likes that).

It’s time to swallow the pride and infuse my actions and conversations with humility.

Are you willing to implement this area of The Butler Way?

[I would love to hear your comments and thoughts about this post. Use the comment section below or click here to tell your story.]