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Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust
The more traditional forms of leadership that are based on static hierarchies and professional distance between leaders and followers are growing increasingly outdated and ineffective. As organizations face more complex interdependent tasks, leadership must become more personal in order to insure open trusting communication that will make more collaborative problem solving and innovation possible. Without open and trusting communications throughout organizations, they will continue to face the productivity and quality problems that result from reward systems that emphasize individual competition and “climbing the corporate ladder”. Authors Edgar Schein and Peter Schein recognize this reality and call for a reimagined form of leadership that coincides with emerging trends of relationship building, complex group work, diverse workforces, and cultures in which everyone feels psychologically safe. Humble Leadership calls for “here and now” humility based on a deeper understanding of the constantly evolving complexities of interpersonal, group and intergroup relationships that require shifting our focus towards the process of group dynamics and collaboration. Humble Leadership at all levels and in all working groups will be the key to achieving the creativity, adaptiveness, and agility that organizations will need to survive and grow.
193 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 14, 2018
279 people are currently reading
1562 people want to read
About the author
Edgar H. Schein
112 books201 followersEdgar Henry Schein is the Society of Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus and a Professor Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Schein investigates organizational culture, process consultation, research process, career dynamics, and organization learning and change. In Career Anchors, third edition (Wiley, 2006), he shows how individuals can diagnose their own career needs and how managers can diagnose the future of jobs. His research on culture shows how national, organizational, and occupational cultures influence organizational performance (Organizational Culture and Leadership, fourth edition, 2010). In Process Consultation Revisited (1999) and Helping (2009), he analyzes how consultants work on problems in human systems and the dynamics of the helping process. Schein has written two cultural case studies—“Strategic Pragmatism: The Culture of Singapore’s Economic Development Board” (MIT Press, 1996) and “DEC is Dead; Long Live DEC” (Berett-Kohler, 2003). His Corporate Culture Survival Guide, second edition (Jossey-Bass, 2009) tells managers how to deal with culture issues in their organizations.
Schein holds a BPhil from the University of Chicago, a BA and an MA in social psychology from Stanford University, and a PhD in social psychology from Harvard University.
From:http://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty/detai...
Schein investigates organizational culture, process consultation, research process, career dynamics, and organization learning and change. In Career Anchors, third edition (Wiley, 2006), he shows how individuals can diagnose their own career needs and how managers can diagnose the future of jobs. His research on culture shows how national, organizational, and occupational cultures influence organizational performance (Organizational Culture and Leadership, fourth edition, 2010). In Process Consultation Revisited (1999) and Helping (2009), he analyzes how consultants work on problems in human systems and the dynamics of the helping process. Schein has written two cultural case studies—“Strategic Pragmatism: The Culture of Singapore’s Economic Development Board” (MIT Press, 1996) and “DEC is Dead; Long Live DEC” (Berett-Kohler, 2003). His Corporate Culture Survival Guide, second edition (Jossey-Bass, 2009) tells managers how to deal with culture issues in their organizations.
Schein holds a BPhil from the University of Chicago, a BA and an MA in social psychology from Stanford University, and a PhD in social psychology from Harvard University.
From:http://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty/detai...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
August 17, 2018
This is a refreshing change to other leadership books and theories that have multiple steps that really only work in an ideal culture or environment, or when everything is going perfect. Humble Leadership is not about doing this and then that; it is about building authentic relationships and trust, and then letting the group growth and development happen organically. This book starts out by posing the question as to whether the leader makes the culture, or the culture makes the leader. The authors also posit that leadership exists at all levels and everywhere in the organization. This helps the reader view leadership as multidimensional as opposed to a two-dimensional, top-down hierarchy. Humble Leadership is about relationship building and trust. Humble Leadership teaches the reader how to be adaptive and practice adaptive leadership while letting the individual team members and organization grow in an organic way. There were great examples of how Humble Leadership works with the Air Force Thunderbirds and David Marquet's turning around of the Navy submarine, USS Sante Fe. This book is a must read for all leaders who want a culture where every person is empowered to be a leader and is working to make the organization great.
May 20, 2019
Should be aHBR paper, not a book. 20 pages of good information. 120 pages of fluff.
June 18, 2020
Conceptually, humble leadership is the right approach. Who wouldn't rather work for a humble leader?
I feel the book however, could have got through the message more quickly. I felt that the examples repeated themselves and didnt really add to the power of the concept.
I feel the book however, could have got through the message more quickly. I felt that the examples repeated themselves and didnt really add to the power of the concept.
August 23, 2018
For years, leadership has meant strength, control, absolute, and a lack of flexibility. Fortunately, new leaders are learning that serving their people, being more personable, and becoming humble benefits teams and entire organizations. Leaders are finally focusing on personal relationships rather than outdated transactional role relationships. Just because you are a leader does not mean that people must follow. These days employees demand respect, relational interactions, and want to work for humble and uplifting managers.
The new book Humble Leadership – The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust by Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein offers a new approach to leadership. Leaders need to be humble. Relationships should change in design and evolve over time. It’s a challenging balance for leaders and their teams. The balance between being too formal or too intimate is a struggle in this day and age. Being humble is key to cultivating a strong culture of cooperation and trust. Years ago empathy wasn’t considered a leadership trait and it is a strength that can pull teams together.
Leaders today need to be adaptive and very in tune with their actions, behaviors, and treatment of teams so that organizational culture thrives and in turn impacts employees. I have worked in organizations with great cultures and those that are toxic. When an organization is toxic turnover increases, sales and service take a dive, and organizations fade.
The authors offer four levels of leadership relationships. Level two represents the most effective balance for most organizations.
• Level Minus 1: Total impersonal, domination, and coercion
• Level 1: Transactional role and rule-based supervision, service, and most forms of “professional” helping relationships
• Level 2: Personal cooperative, trusting relationships as in friendships and in effective teams
• Level 3: Emotionally intimate total mutual commitments
The authors assert that learning and rewarding humility is a learning process. Without focus and commitment, leaders can’t change. They need to practice focused reading and reflection, create homework around designing work relationships and build their behavioral skills through fieldwork and learning.
Humble Leadership doesn’t just present theories and ideas. The real meat in the book are the lessons at the end of each chapter which invite the reader to reflect. There are several chapters detailing real situations in companies and even the military where humbleness has been transforming. These stories r bring the ideas and concepts in the book together. For instance, we learn lessons from a major medical center, an international company, and even the US military.
If you are ready and willing to become humble and change your organization pick up a copy of Humble Leadership today. You don’t need to be a CEO – you can have an impact in your role and within the teams that you work with. If we all make small changes we can have an impact.
The new book Humble Leadership – The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust by Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein offers a new approach to leadership. Leaders need to be humble. Relationships should change in design and evolve over time. It’s a challenging balance for leaders and their teams. The balance between being too formal or too intimate is a struggle in this day and age. Being humble is key to cultivating a strong culture of cooperation and trust. Years ago empathy wasn’t considered a leadership trait and it is a strength that can pull teams together.
Leaders today need to be adaptive and very in tune with their actions, behaviors, and treatment of teams so that organizational culture thrives and in turn impacts employees. I have worked in organizations with great cultures and those that are toxic. When an organization is toxic turnover increases, sales and service take a dive, and organizations fade.
The authors offer four levels of leadership relationships. Level two represents the most effective balance for most organizations.
• Level Minus 1: Total impersonal, domination, and coercion
• Level 1: Transactional role and rule-based supervision, service, and most forms of “professional” helping relationships
• Level 2: Personal cooperative, trusting relationships as in friendships and in effective teams
• Level 3: Emotionally intimate total mutual commitments
The authors assert that learning and rewarding humility is a learning process. Without focus and commitment, leaders can’t change. They need to practice focused reading and reflection, create homework around designing work relationships and build their behavioral skills through fieldwork and learning.
Humble Leadership doesn’t just present theories and ideas. The real meat in the book are the lessons at the end of each chapter which invite the reader to reflect. There are several chapters detailing real situations in companies and even the military where humbleness has been transforming. These stories r bring the ideas and concepts in the book together. For instance, we learn lessons from a major medical center, an international company, and even the US military.
If you are ready and willing to become humble and change your organization pick up a copy of Humble Leadership today. You don’t need to be a CEO – you can have an impact in your role and within the teams that you work with. If we all make small changes we can have an impact.
June 16, 2019
I'm torn on how to rate this book. I loved the message, but disliked the writing style and the weakness of the examples.
I've got a ton of respect for the elder Dr. Schein and his take on organizational culture. (I will soon embark on reading his earlier book on the subject.) I'm completely aligned with spending the time to build trust and have a more personal, versus hierarchical, relationship among members of a team. I've worked at a company with a great culture that was heavily influenced by Dr. Schein. We spent a lot of time obsessing over culture and "bringing our whole selves to work". (Which survived until new leadership came in at "Level Minus One: Total impersonal domination and coercion", the whole culture collapsed, and hundreds of people were laid off. But I digress.)
I don't think Schein's four "Levels of Relationship" are quite as powerfully applied as, say, John C. Maxwell's "Five Levels of Leadership". But they serve a different purpose, and suffice for this book's focus on Level Two: "Personal cooperative, trusting relationships".
The book doesn't quite read like a textbook, but leans that way. Sentence structures are almost always overly complicated. This carries over into the audiobook narration, which didn't make it any easier. (I read the first and last few chapters as an e-book, and listened to the middle few chapters as an audiobook on a long walk.) There's a lot of "telling us what you're going to tell us before you tell us". I would have eliminated Chapter 1 "A New Approach to Leadership" and/or the Preface entirely.
The examples of the middle chapters were varied, but not what I would call definitive. "Here are organizations that built trusting relationships and then made successful transformations." I don't know--I feel like there are probably also a bunch of examples of "Here are organizations that built trusting relationships and failed." A few of the examples touched on "something's not working and here's how we fixed it by building trusting relationships", but I would have liked to have seen more of these stories of failure turned success and why building trusting relationships was key. ("Turn the Ship Around!" by David Marquet is worth a read for the long version of the story briefly described in Humble Leadership.)
The last few chapters of the book--e.g., "When Hierarchy and Unintended Consequences Stifle Humble Leadership" and "Humble Leadership Requires Reinforcing the Soft Stuff"--yielded more valuable examples. The story of the Mass Audubon Board is one I'm going to try on my own in the near future.
I've got a ton of respect for the elder Dr. Schein and his take on organizational culture. (I will soon embark on reading his earlier book on the subject.) I'm completely aligned with spending the time to build trust and have a more personal, versus hierarchical, relationship among members of a team. I've worked at a company with a great culture that was heavily influenced by Dr. Schein. We spent a lot of time obsessing over culture and "bringing our whole selves to work". (Which survived until new leadership came in at "Level Minus One: Total impersonal domination and coercion", the whole culture collapsed, and hundreds of people were laid off. But I digress.)
I don't think Schein's four "Levels of Relationship" are quite as powerfully applied as, say, John C. Maxwell's "Five Levels of Leadership". But they serve a different purpose, and suffice for this book's focus on Level Two: "Personal cooperative, trusting relationships".
The book doesn't quite read like a textbook, but leans that way. Sentence structures are almost always overly complicated. This carries over into the audiobook narration, which didn't make it any easier. (I read the first and last few chapters as an e-book, and listened to the middle few chapters as an audiobook on a long walk.) There's a lot of "telling us what you're going to tell us before you tell us". I would have eliminated Chapter 1 "A New Approach to Leadership" and/or the Preface entirely.
The examples of the middle chapters were varied, but not what I would call definitive. "Here are organizations that built trusting relationships and then made successful transformations." I don't know--I feel like there are probably also a bunch of examples of "Here are organizations that built trusting relationships and failed." A few of the examples touched on "something's not working and here's how we fixed it by building trusting relationships", but I would have liked to have seen more of these stories of failure turned success and why building trusting relationships was key. ("Turn the Ship Around!" by David Marquet is worth a read for the long version of the story briefly described in Humble Leadership.)
The last few chapters of the book--e.g., "When Hierarchy and Unintended Consequences Stifle Humble Leadership" and "Humble Leadership Requires Reinforcing the Soft Stuff"--yielded more valuable examples. The story of the Mass Audubon Board is one I'm going to try on my own in the near future.
lost-interest
December 7, 2018Not giving this book a rating because I haven't read it - but I saw a blog post that references the book and I really liked what Nancy Dixon had to say about Schein:
He identifies four levels of relationship a leader could have with employees:
Level Minus 1: This relationship is total impersonal it depends on domination and coercion. It is like the relationship between prison guards and prisoners, or managers of sweatshops and their workers or between leaders and immigrants who, though they are often mistreated, say nothing out of fear of being deported.
Level 1: : This relationship is transactional, role and rule-based leadership. The manager described in the above survey item has a Level 1 relationship with employees. The manager stays in role, keeping his/her distance, even lying and withholding information when the role requires it. It is the relationship surgeons have with nurses and in most organizations it is the relationship that managers have with employees.
Level 2: : This relationship is personal, cooperative, and trusting. It is the way friends relate to each other. It involves knowing each other as whole persons, knowing about each other’s families, ambitions and disappointments. Level 2 leadership achieves a kind of collaboration that is built on deeper trust and openness. It acknowledges joint responsibility and honoring commitments. Both parties trust that neither will undermine or harm the other. Nor will they lie or withhold information from each other.
Level 3: : This relationship is emotionally intimate, with total mutual commitments. These are the relationships we hear about among military platoons or Navy seal teams or like the relationship the Apollo 13 astronauts had with their ground crew.
Schein says that managers need to move from Level 1 relationships to Level 2 to achieve the kind of collaboration and trust necessary in the current work environment.
He identifies four levels of relationship a leader could have with employees:
Level Minus 1: This relationship is total impersonal it depends on domination and coercion. It is like the relationship between prison guards and prisoners, or managers of sweatshops and their workers or between leaders and immigrants who, though they are often mistreated, say nothing out of fear of being deported.
Level 1: : This relationship is transactional, role and rule-based leadership. The manager described in the above survey item has a Level 1 relationship with employees. The manager stays in role, keeping his/her distance, even lying and withholding information when the role requires it. It is the relationship surgeons have with nurses and in most organizations it is the relationship that managers have with employees.
Level 2: : This relationship is personal, cooperative, and trusting. It is the way friends relate to each other. It involves knowing each other as whole persons, knowing about each other’s families, ambitions and disappointments. Level 2 leadership achieves a kind of collaboration that is built on deeper trust and openness. It acknowledges joint responsibility and honoring commitments. Both parties trust that neither will undermine or harm the other. Nor will they lie or withhold information from each other.
Level 3: : This relationship is emotionally intimate, with total mutual commitments. These are the relationships we hear about among military platoons or Navy seal teams or like the relationship the Apollo 13 astronauts had with their ground crew.
Schein says that managers need to move from Level 1 relationships to Level 2 to achieve the kind of collaboration and trust necessary in the current work environment.
February 18, 2023
Yet another business book that could have been a medium length article/blog post. It made me lose my interest after the first quarter, and the rest was the repetition of the same things over an over again.
You won't miss anything if you skip this one. Save your $20.
You won't miss anything if you skip this one. Save your $20.
March 28, 2025
Boringggg
December 24, 2020
Humble Leadership (2014) by Edgar Schein and Peter Schein describes a form of leadership where people trust each other more and describes why it’s better.
The book puts relationships into a number of categories, level -1 that is dependent on exploitation, level 1 that is purely transactional, level 2 which is trusting and deep and level 3 which is deep friendship and level 4 where people disappear for ‘long lunches’ and whatnot. Actually level 4 isn’t in the book and isn’t a good idea for in team work relationships.
The book presents a number of examples of how level 2 leadership is better and how it helps businesses. It’s a fair point. If you want to work with someone really effectively it really does help to have more of a connection as people will trust each other more.
Humble Leadership makes a good point, it’s a fairly short book but could be even shorter. The ideas are far from revolutionary but they make some sense.
The book puts relationships into a number of categories, level -1 that is dependent on exploitation, level 1 that is purely transactional, level 2 which is trusting and deep and level 3 which is deep friendship and level 4 where people disappear for ‘long lunches’ and whatnot. Actually level 4 isn’t in the book and isn’t a good idea for in team work relationships.
The book presents a number of examples of how level 2 leadership is better and how it helps businesses. It’s a fair point. If you want to work with someone really effectively it really does help to have more of a connection as people will trust each other more.
Humble Leadership makes a good point, it’s a fairly short book but could be even shorter. The ideas are far from revolutionary but they make some sense.
January 29, 2021
3.5. Started slowly. Midway through began to provide new insights on old topic. Probably just as valuable as a 10 page article.
December 24, 2023
A decent book on fundamentals for rousing team members to work in groups. This book gives a simple framework for discussing levels of leadership. The audiobook’s male American-accent narrator was dry and monotonous, suitable for 1.5x speed while walking.
As a comparison, I didn't jump into this book as much as I enjoyed reading a couple other leadership books from this year. It's missing something for me, almost like it discusses important qualities but then doesn't quite model them -- which, admittedly, is hard to do for a book.
I want working in teams to feel natural, generous, open, upward-spiraling, fun, rewarding, and to be process-oriented and working towards a great goal together. If I have to put labels on every level we're working at, if I had to frequently rate the relationships and the work of myself and my co-workers, then I wonder that we'll likely feel less of these good things and start to focus on more results-oriented work. Would this frequent rating slowly chip away at our motivation and creativity over time? Maybe, maybe not for all teams; it depends on the priorities of the job and it depends on the leadership.
Side note: My boss's boss highly recommended this book to me and now I want to chat more about it but if I start asking questions, like, 'what level do you think you and your team are you working at?' then it sounds too cheeky, right. I can't start it but would love to hold an open conversation about it if everyone knew this framework to reference.
Favourite Quotes:
"Leader level relationships overview:
- minus one - domination and coercion - morally inappropriate, ineffective expect robotic work
- one - relies on rules, roles, and the maintenance of appropriate professional distance
- two - personal and cooperative, open and trusting
- three - more intimate sharing of thoughts"
"Quality and productivity both increased over the long run when everyone was involved in the transformation program."
"Such changes [in a workplace re-design] only work and last when all the participants have developed level 2 relationships, have learned to be open and trust each other's mutual commitment, and—most important— have been involved in creating and implementing the change."
"The essence of humble leadership is maintaining acute focus on interpersonal and group dynamics."
"Humble leadership means accepting vulnerability and building resiliency through level 2 relationships."
As a comparison, I didn't jump into this book as much as I enjoyed reading a couple other leadership books from this year. It's missing something for me, almost like it discusses important qualities but then doesn't quite model them -- which, admittedly, is hard to do for a book.
I want working in teams to feel natural, generous, open, upward-spiraling, fun, rewarding, and to be process-oriented and working towards a great goal together. If I have to put labels on every level we're working at, if I had to frequently rate the relationships and the work of myself and my co-workers, then I wonder that we'll likely feel less of these good things and start to focus on more results-oriented work. Would this frequent rating slowly chip away at our motivation and creativity over time? Maybe, maybe not for all teams; it depends on the priorities of the job and it depends on the leadership.
Side note: My boss's boss highly recommended this book to me and now I want to chat more about it but if I start asking questions, like, 'what level do you think you and your team are you working at?' then it sounds too cheeky, right. I can't start it but would love to hold an open conversation about it if everyone knew this framework to reference.
Favourite Quotes:
"Leader level relationships overview:
- minus one - domination and coercion - morally inappropriate, ineffective expect robotic work
- one - relies on rules, roles, and the maintenance of appropriate professional distance
- two - personal and cooperative, open and trusting
- three - more intimate sharing of thoughts"
"Quality and productivity both increased over the long run when everyone was involved in the transformation program."
"Such changes [in a workplace re-design] only work and last when all the participants have developed level 2 relationships, have learned to be open and trust each other's mutual commitment, and—most important— have been involved in creating and implementing the change."
"The essence of humble leadership is maintaining acute focus on interpersonal and group dynamics."
"Humble leadership means accepting vulnerability and building resiliency through level 2 relationships."
June 6, 2020
Humble Leadership:The power of relationships, oppenness, and trust is a fantastic read. As stated in the book "a relational view of leadership as a process of learning, sharing, and directing new and better things to do in the dynamic interpersonal and group processes that increasingly characterize today's organizations".
The Scheins explore what they call Level 1 (transactional) and Level 2 (personal, cooperative and trusting) relationships in our organizations. Throughout the book, they emphasize that seeing someone as a "whole person" (they call personize or personization) is necessary for most relationships. Using case studies, they explore the results obtained by relationships built in both levels and leave the reader with a Summary and Action plan after each Chapter. It's an easy book to read -- but I encourage a deeper study. Could be a wonderful book for a book club or study group. The final chapter lays out a specific plan for analyzing and acting towards building stronger relationships.
Much of what they share aligns with my own leaderships beliefs - and hopefully practice. I had recently read How to win Friends and Influence People in the Digial Age by Dale Carnegie and felt that they worked hand-in-glove to show how relationships have evolved over time - yet trusting relationships built on listening, understanding, and caring are timeless.
I encourage anyone who is seeking to be a leader to read this book and consider if they are truly building their relationships based on Level 2 values.
The Scheins explore what they call Level 1 (transactional) and Level 2 (personal, cooperative and trusting) relationships in our organizations. Throughout the book, they emphasize that seeing someone as a "whole person" (they call personize or personization) is necessary for most relationships. Using case studies, they explore the results obtained by relationships built in both levels and leave the reader with a Summary and Action plan after each Chapter. It's an easy book to read -- but I encourage a deeper study. Could be a wonderful book for a book club or study group. The final chapter lays out a specific plan for analyzing and acting towards building stronger relationships.
Much of what they share aligns with my own leaderships beliefs - and hopefully practice. I had recently read How to win Friends and Influence People in the Digial Age by Dale Carnegie and felt that they worked hand-in-glove to show how relationships have evolved over time - yet trusting relationships built on listening, understanding, and caring are timeless.
I encourage anyone who is seeking to be a leader to read this book and consider if they are truly building their relationships based on Level 2 values.
February 28, 2023
Part of the audiobook Humble Bundle called the Humble Leadership Bundle. So I guess this is the central book of the whole bundle. Advice for leaders stuck in the last century.
Humble leaders understand that they are not the smartest person in every room. Nor do they need to be. They encourage people to speak up, respect differences of opinion and champion the best ideas, regardless of whether they originate from a top executive or a production-line employee.
When a leader works to harness input from everyone, it carries through the organization. As other executives and line managers emulate the leader’s approach, a culture of getting the best from every team and every individual takes root.
In short, leaders know how to get the most from people.
When things go wrong, humble leaders admit to their mistakes and take responsibility. When things go right, they shine the spotlight on others.
Asking people to share “from the heart” on why they have invested in an organization can lead to creating a strategy and level of commitment with some incredible unanticipated outcomes.
Bonding time, even with food and beverages, or “breaking bread,” can nurture a team and create a stronger bond. This is not wasted time!
Humble leaders understand that they are not the smartest person in every room. Nor do they need to be. They encourage people to speak up, respect differences of opinion and champion the best ideas, regardless of whether they originate from a top executive or a production-line employee.
When a leader works to harness input from everyone, it carries through the organization. As other executives and line managers emulate the leader’s approach, a culture of getting the best from every team and every individual takes root.
In short, leaders know how to get the most from people.
When things go wrong, humble leaders admit to their mistakes and take responsibility. When things go right, they shine the spotlight on others.
Asking people to share “from the heart” on why they have invested in an organization can lead to creating a strategy and level of commitment with some incredible unanticipated outcomes.
Bonding time, even with food and beverages, or “breaking bread,” can nurture a team and create a stronger bond. This is not wasted time!
July 27, 2019
I'm a huge, HUGE fan of Ed Schein's work, so this book was a pretty major disappointment and it took me almost a month to read (and it's less than 150 pages). I love Schein's concepts about building better relationships, and his concept of personization (really getting to a deeper level of relationships, especially in work settings) is highly resonant for me. However, much of this book has been covered in his other writings, and other than a chapter of actionable exercises at the end I felt like he was rehashing what had been said. I don't normally say this about books, but I regretted spending $20 on it. However, if you are new to Schein's work, this covers many of his leadership perspectives in a single book, so then it's possible that it would be worth your time.
January 25, 2021
I enjoy this book in general, and the author makes it simple and foolproof as he compares between Level 1 and Level 2 leadership. The last chapter was a practical exercise for us to reflect on our current relationship with our bosses or subordinate and the kind of r/s we are building.
I enjoy all the anecdotes about how companies that build around the culture of openness yet at the same time values trust, “psychologically safe” environment allows the people to thrive. How sometimes when all we care about of being efficient, straight to the point lost the entire essence of building trust and transparency for people to speak openly.
I would recommend this book to whoever holding a leadership position be it at work or other organisations!
I enjoy all the anecdotes about how companies that build around the culture of openness yet at the same time values trust, “psychologically safe” environment allows the people to thrive. How sometimes when all we care about of being efficient, straight to the point lost the entire essence of building trust and transparency for people to speak openly.
I would recommend this book to whoever holding a leadership position be it at work or other organisations!
June 5, 2021
I really admire the outline of this book. It allowed me to understand what I have not fully understood. Many people classify themselves as "servant leaders" but very few people truly practice what they say. And very minimal will they truly put into action the things that they have read. I think that the examples of leadership shown in the case of Level 2 relationships are far better because you engage the people in a more deeper relationship than just a typical Level 1 relationship in which, "you work for me" and "I work for you". Overall, I think that it will be nicer if they can add some stories that challenged the leaders and if they have ever failed at all, and what how did they overcome that failure. I think that will be a "humbling" experience.
January 6, 2019
This is an incredibly easy read about an eye-opening concept of Human Leadership, built on Level 2 relationship (deeper than the formal yet mechanical role in the workplace). The concept is declared clearly, supported by various stories from authors' own studies and other renowned authors and researchers.
I picked up this 153 paged book from a public library just before the New Year day. It was a pleasant read that I read this book mostly while I waited for my swimming child at the parking lots yesterday and today. I took some notes too. Recommend this book for a reader looking for books on business/workplace relationship.
I picked up this 153 paged book from a public library just before the New Year day. It was a pleasant read that I read this book mostly while I waited for my swimming child at the parking lots yesterday and today. I took some notes too. Recommend this book for a reader looking for books on business/workplace relationship.
April 9, 2019
The book is a good alternative to the common view employers have of their employees. Instead of treating employees as resources, easily replaceable and property of the company alone, it treats them as people that the leadership team need to build a relationship with. It has plenty of examples of how the process succeeded, and perhaps more importantly, how it failed.
The last part of the book summarizes the process and also has a lot of reading resources, but I'd argue the examples and stories throughout the book are what gives it context and applicability. I can see myself returning to this book over and over.
Highly recommended.
The last part of the book summarizes the process and also has a lot of reading resources, but I'd argue the examples and stories throughout the book are what gives it context and applicability. I can see myself returning to this book over and over.
Highly recommended.
June 20, 2019
I liked very much reading the book.
I think the Schein’s managed to identify how successful companies and its leaders need to evolve their ways of working.
That said, i think some of the examples put forth in the middle chapters, while successful, demonstrate more the success of a given leader, rather than a whole company really embracing this style of leadership/work, inspired in successful cases.
I also liked to practical tips on how to deepen your understanding and examples to try to evolve ones Level 2 humble leadership capabilities.
I think the Schein’s managed to identify how successful companies and its leaders need to evolve their ways of working.
That said, i think some of the examples put forth in the middle chapters, while successful, demonstrate more the success of a given leader, rather than a whole company really embracing this style of leadership/work, inspired in successful cases.
I also liked to practical tips on how to deepen your understanding and examples to try to evolve ones Level 2 humble leadership capabilities.
November 30, 2020
If you want to become the best leader you can be, you should read Humble Leadership. You’ll be introduced to a system that will seem familiar because you already use it in your personal life. The humble leadership idea doesn’t require wholesale transformation of entire organizations. It doesn't ask you to defy human nature by eliminating hierarchy. You can do it all without assuming the role of wild-eyed reformer.
See my full review at
https://www.threestarleadership.com/b...
See my full review at
https://www.threestarleadership.com/b...
February 10, 2019
I thought the book started out a little slow, so give it 40 pages or so. Then I think it pulls it all together and gives some very good data and clear examples. I do feel that it leaves the middle-level manager felling a little helpless in trying to implement its concepts. Regardless changes in leadership need to start somewhere and they cannot always be at the top. The contagion of leadership does go up as well as down. Success is contagious. That is hidden in the book, but is there.
May 9, 2020
Organizational culture and leadership are areas where I am continually learning and growing and the Schien's are both worth reading and learning from, and this book is no different. They do an excellent job of explaining and presenting their Humble Leadership model and how leaders and followers alike can and should use it in improving the organizations and people they serve. Well worth the time investment to read.
February 11, 2022
I full subscribe to the Humble Leadership model as a better way to lead and build fulfillment in the lives of your teams. Organizations that take this as an ambition and guiding principle will retain more, achieve more, and last longer. The approach here breaks the concept down to a small framework in this quick to-the-point book. It’s a bit dry at points and I lost steam at the end, therefore the 3 stars.
June 29, 2019
Surprisingly good book! You know how quantification makes everything easier? Here is some practical advice on how to build effective leadership skills using clear and simple method.
Thinking of relationships at work? 4 levels model can help you. Grading scale is based on what authors call #personization meaning being authentically curious about the other person or opening up to him/her.
Thinking of relationships at work? 4 levels model can help you. Grading scale is based on what authors call #personization meaning being authentically curious about the other person or opening up to him/her.
February 1, 2020
READ JAN 2020
Timely addition to the body of leadership literature. Ed and Peter Schein have done a nice job articulating what the future of leadership looks like. It is not about position, title, or roles, but relationship. This is not a new idea, but the way they have framed this for leadership is helpful.
Timely addition to the body of leadership literature. Ed and Peter Schein have done a nice job articulating what the future of leadership looks like. It is not about position, title, or roles, but relationship. This is not a new idea, but the way they have framed this for leadership is helpful.
May 16, 2021
Easy to read and insightful book!
It shows the importance of getting to know the person behind the role with the so called "Level 2 relationship" and how this can be powerful in accomplishing goals.
Particularly relevant in the "Humble Leadership and the Future" chapter where assertive business scenarios and behaviours are explained.
It shows the importance of getting to know the person behind the role with the so called "Level 2 relationship" and how this can be powerful in accomplishing goals.
Particularly relevant in the "Humble Leadership and the Future" chapter where assertive business scenarios and behaviours are explained.
October 6, 2022
Schein is a legend - a first rate thinker who gave language and form to ideas the business community had been struggling to name. This book, however, lacks fresh insight. It’s good - nothing wrong with it (with the exception of having few examples featuring the leadership of women), but nothing exceptional in it either.
January 31, 2023
You can sum this book up as moving from transactional relationships (level 1) to personization / collaborative relationships (level 2). A decent read, but nothing life changing if you are familiar with some of these topics e.g. theory x and y, intent based leadership etc.. a good book for leaders needing a new framing.
August 18, 2023
Absolutely wonderful book! This is a very useful book for leaders to think through the importance of building "Level 2" relationships at work. I can identify with this version of leadership.
I had not read Ed Schein since the 1980's when in grad school we were assigned "Career Dynamics". His book, co-written with his son Peter, is worth the investment in time.
I had not read Ed Schein since the 1980's when in grad school we were assigned "Career Dynamics". His book, co-written with his son Peter, is worth the investment in time.
November 6, 2023
I rarely say a book is boring. This book unfortunately was one of its more like reading a school text book. I still gave this one a 3 star because the content is worthy of it. Except for a couple of real life examples it didn’t entice me to stay hooked. Worthy read if you like such content heavy books without much storyline to it.
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