Humility or Arrogance?

I consider humility a characteristic of leadership that reflects emotional intelligence. Balancing humility with confidence moves a leader away from arrogance towards inclusion and sharing the ownership of success. My political leanings are generally left of center and I voted for President Obama because I saw him as the kind of collaborative leader that we needed to reposition the perception of the US around the world. Recently, however, I read a column by a political conservative about the president that raised questions for me. This conservative writer claimed Obama’s language has shifted from “we” to “I” and he pointed out the dangers inherent in that shift. Without more research, I can’t refute at the moment whether Obama’s language is now “I” centered or not. But the language leaders use is critically important and they must pay attention to how they speak about success, because their language can reveal whether they are acting from a place of arrogance or humility.