What Is a Humble Manager?

Paul’s hymn in Philippians 2 is a well-known one. Prefaced by the command to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, regard others as better than yourselves” and to “look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others”, the ancient hymn that Paul recounts is one in which we hear of Christ’s incarnation: that the Son of God humbled himself by taking on poor, Jewish flesh and by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. As a result of this humiliation, Christ was then exalted with a name higher than any name. Paul tells us in this passage that this same mind is to be in us. But what does that mean for being a manager at Baylor? I want to briefly explain three possible meanings for you as you look to do your work and support your team.

1. A humble manager is always ready to learn.
2. A humble manager is always ready to serve.
3. A humble manager is always ready to sacrifice.

To the first, your position, while it may include teaching, also includes learning. Your colleagues and your direct reports are gifted people. It’s why you hired them or value working with them. Thus, your position allows you to see their gifts and cultivate them, especially those who are gifted in ways distinct from your own gifts. In order for this institution to grow deeper and broader and more just, each of us has to see one another as co-laborers rather than competitors. But that is an atmosphere that we depend on managers like you to cultivate!

To the second, your position, though it is one of power, requires service. It requires, as Paul commands, that we look not to our own self-aggrandizement, but to the cultivation of our neighbors, brothers and sisters. I think about this with the example of marriage: I am not the one who tells my spouse that I am loving her well. That’s something that she has to tell me and I have to be doing the work of figuring out how she experiences love. Similarly, as a manager, those whom you manage will be able to tell you (within reason) whether they are being managed well. What is most important is that the job gets done and done well. Often you as the manager are the one who sets the atmosphere for your direct reports to thrive! That happens best when you see your role as one of humble service, rather than domineering.

Lastly, a humble manager is always ready to sacrifice. I want to affirm, with Christ, that love and service are a kind of sacrifice, a denial of oneself. You will be tempted to retreat into self-protection, especially when interactions get heated and times get hard. In contrast to that, consider ways that you, those around you and those above you can build structures that support you even when you are vulnerable. But Paul’s words ought to ring in our ears: look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. If everyone is looking out for their own interests, people will be paralyzed by their own inadequacy. But if everyone is looking out for everyone else, that spirit of collaboration and mutuality will create a work environment unlike anywhere else. In fact, that kind of environment might be understood as properly Christian.

Humility lies at the core of the Christian ethic and thus ought to be visible in our work lives. It is my prayer that it might be seen as a staple of the “Baylor Way.”

Sic 'em!

Rev. Malcolm B. Foley, Ph.D.