MTInstitute for Alignment
All Resources

Leadership Research · 5 min read

Humble leadership: the counterintuitive predictor of team performance

Bradley Owens (BYU) and David Hekman's longitudinal research finds humble leaders outperform on team learning, engagement, and retention — and, surprisingly, on perceived effectiveness.

Three takeaways

  1. 01

    Humility in leadership is not modesty — it is the willingness to acknowledge limits, appreciate others' strengths, and stay teachable.

  2. 02

    Teams led by humble leaders show higher psychological safety, higher learning behaviors, and 40% lower turnover in Owens' multi-year studies.

  3. 03

    Humble leaders are rated MORE effective by their teams over time, not less — the 'strong leader' archetype underperforms once trust scores are measured.

Three things to implement this week

  • Publicly acknowledge one limit per month: 'Here's something I am not good at — I am going to need help.'
  • Spotlight a team member's strength in every all-hands by name — link their contribution to the result.
  • Ask 'what am I missing?' or 'where am I wrong?' as a standing question in every leadership team meeting.