In my practice as a clinical psychologist, it has become clear to me that the initial problem reported at the first meeting rarely turns out to be the REAL problem.  In well over 35,000 hours of psychotherapy and individual evaluations I've found that, more often than not, the "presenting problem" turns out to be an external symptom of a deeper underlying problem.  I learned early on that deciphering the underlying problem is the key to alleviating the symptoms, disorder, or pain.

Within our own business, and certainly within the realm of recruiting, we witness the same scenario.  Humans are incredibly stubborn, short-sighted, committed to their biases and unable to assess their own blind spots.  Because of this blindness we need the input of others.  We need fresh eyes.  We need experts who know how to see through the symptoms and locate the core roadblocks. 

In order for an organization or office to flourish, the leader must be humble enough to actively be on the watch for what they might be missing.  They need to seek out their blind spots.  They should welcome critique.  Even Jim Collins found the best leaders to be "humble" in his well-known book, "Good to Great."  

Humility can be seen in several characteristics.  One that Ben and I have noticed is that humble leaders ask questions…lots of them.  They always want to know…"What's going on out there?  What could I be missing?" 

When leaders are humble, they demonstrate a greater tendency to actively search for the "real problem," rather than trying to fix the superficial symptoms…or worse yet, ignoring the symptoms all together.  Humble leaders don't experience a mistake or a failure in the company as an insult to their ego.  Because of this, they are free to self-examine and improve.  Companies and offices with this kind of leadership are the ones that thrive. 

In the next edition, I'll share some characteristics of poor leaders. 

Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.