Modesty in the Work Life
There exists plenty of characteristic features specific to human beings, plenty of which have been acknowledged and adopted throughout the centuries. Honesty, humbleness, diligence, positive ambition, optimism, being like an open book, friendliness, sentimentality, helpfulness, being constructive… We can count much more. All of them have been accepted as factors that make us humans.
So, which of these features harms us, being a constant giver and saving part all the time? Is it because we are emotional? I think one of the main features we all have in common is this: for instance; it would be to never give up on honesty, justice and respect, yet we cannot say the same for some characteristic features in today's age.
So, what were the characteristic features that should be in business life or how did they evolve? Have you ever thought about this?
If there is a concept that needs to be abandoned or controlled to the extent possible in business life, modesty has to be in the first place. Modesty can be defined as the characteristic of virtuous people to see themselves as they are, knowing their limits by being aware of their competencies and deficiencies, regardless of their education, experience, seat or position they represent, in business life.
Modesty is the opposite of egocentrism. If it's a truly competent attitude, it brings with it a lot of respect.
A modest employee or manager believes in an effective perspective, team spirit, productivity and communication. He/she is open to all kinds of criticism, but he/she also reacts to unjustified criticisms with the same maturity. He/she is already experienced enough to detect errors and omissions and has a good command of his/her work.
Personal development books were highly common in my twenties, or, I had just discovered by then. I left at least 10 of them unfinished, my problem with these books was that they were pushing people to selfishness, making them singulars. “You first… if you're not happy, you can't make anyone happy”. After 20 years, according to me, we were mistaken in books, and people cannot make themselves or each other happy by saying "me comes first".
It is not necessary to be constantly self-centered nor be too humble. Humility is the greatest virtue, virtuous leaders and employees do not make an effort to prove themselves at the end of the day, they work in harmony and conformity with their colleagues who enjoy working with them.
Humility is handled within the concept of moderation in psychology, isn't that so noteworthy? As in everything else, humility should be in a balanced manner, and we should even use the scales in our favor. Why? Too much humbleness is harmful at work. If a professional does not talk much about what he/she does and is very modest about what he/she does, this can be interpreted as not doing any work at all. That is why it is necessary to maintain the balance. Paracelsus, a physician who lived many centuries before us, said:
“All substances are poisons. There is no substance that is not poisonous. It is its dose that separates the poison from the medicine.” Although Paracelsus speaks of drugs, this state of being balanced applies to our behavior. Even acts of virtue, such as humbleness, must be in a certain dose.
I hope you don't pass the limit of modesty.
Dilek YAMAN
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