ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the research so far has found on a dark side of humility. The same is true of humility. Other virtues might also be powerful. Great – you have options. And while there is no danger of depressions arising from humility, there are some issues you should know about, which researchers see as critical. Humility is about an inner attitude and it is this attitude that the environment tries to perceive and test as being real. The key in this process is fairness. Research is crystal-clear: fairness motivates employees even if the outcome is to their liking. The humble leader must therefore ensure that the relationship with the superiors is strong. Literature calls this the LLX – the leader-leader exchange. The explanation for this has two steps and goes as follows. If a person is very different from us, our empathy tends to fail and we attribute their behavior primarily to the situation and not to the character.
