The term ‘Situational Humility’ was developed by Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson, a world-renowned expert in psychological safety. She defines situational humility as:
Situational humility is powerful in helping you remain open to receiving feedback. I reckon receiving feedback is the perfect situation in which to marinate yourself in humility. After having thousands of conversations with people who struggle to receive feedback well, I believe embracing situational humility involves:
Temporarily putting your own knowledge aside to you can fully hear what others are sharing with you.
Being aware of your own limitations and listening to understand them, not defend them.
Curiously listening to the insights and perspectives of others.
Doing the above allows you to:
Let go of wanting to look intelligent/perfect/an expert.
Be ok with being a learner, making mistakes and not knowing.
Be your authentic self.
In what work situations where you receive feedback, and where can you more fully step into Situational Humility?
Ps- You can still choose to disregard the feedback (or some of it) offered to you; it just means ‘rejecting feedback in the first instance’ is not your default setting 😉
Situational Humility is the key to having a more open mind when it comes to considering feedback.
My own research conducted in 2023 found 19.05% of men and 9.21% of women rated themselves as ‘reluctant’ when it comes to receiving feedback in the workplace. Maybe there were barriers to them embracing situational humility? The old advice, ‘Fake it ‘til you make it’ is an example of such a barrier.
I once coached a Leader who believed she had to be, in her words, ‘The smartest person in the room’. She was of course exhausted, and not that great at taking feedback!
Is lack of situational humility getting in the way of you being open to feedback?
In what work situations where you receive feedback, and can you more fully step into Situational Humility?