On another occasion, around the same time, my supervisor asked me to fill in for him in a meeting with the CEO. I arrived on time for the appointment and before the first “good morning”, my greeting was: “where is your boss?” and without waiting for my answer, he continued with “I ask you to withdraw, this meeting is for managers and directors”. And for the issues that I suppose it would deal with, I have no way to question the decision, but there was no need to expose myself like that in front of everyone because as soon as I got to my office, which was about 15 minutes from the meeting place, many of my colleagues they already knew that they “kicked” me off the board. That didn’t feel good at all.
In this pair of anecdotes, the contrast between a leader who was humble and one who was not is perfectly understood when reading the definition of Royal Academy of Language: “Virtue that consists in the knowledge of one’s own limitations and weaknesses and in acting in accordance with this knowledge.”
Think of a person after hearing the expression “that is a very humble person”. It is common for the concept of modesty be associated with poverty and this, with agriculture, because of this very Latin American profile of survival and little success. However, I want to tell you what my seat at AgroMarketing has allowed me to witness firsthand.
Humility in Agriculture
There has not been a course that has accelerated my curiosity and knowledge as much as what agriculture has given me, but it would not be a success story if I had not found humble people along the way, thinking of those who, despite their experience They were happy to share.
From that distributor who, upon my arrival in Sinaloa, offered me a kind of course to understand the dynamics of buying and selling grain, to the farmer who dedicated an hour to explaining the sources of information with which he made decisions, without forgetting one of the members of my team who taught me (literally) to walk in the groove so as not to fall, hurt myself and, incidentally, avoid some ridicule.
So how far is part of the kits service of a commercial team and how far is it an act of humility?
Humility becomes tangible when we pause in our activities to share with a team that is learning, when we stop to explain or correct our collaborators in a clear, timely and respectful manner. Another way is when we have the humility to ask… yes, that simple action that reveals what we do not know with the sole purpose of getting out of our ignorance without feeling that we lose something by showing our ignorance.
And they say that words move us but the example drags. At an event where we presented new products, a couple of farmers asked apparently basic questions, one of those that, sadly, no one had asked, especially if we consider the years that they have been dedicated to the field.
It was incredible to see that after their interventions, many questions cascaded as they overcame the fear of raising their hands and clarifying what was not fully understood by them. The relevance of a doubt is not tied to its complexity but rather to the fact that by not resolving it, we could get stuck.
In this wonderful industry, you can ask why a farmer dedicates himself to the field and the answer most likely refers to the inheritance of parents and grandparents and in this context, stories of learning at an early age are very common where I ask you not to confuse with the firmness (and sometimes rudeness) that the teaching process implies at the furrow level, but we also recognize that thanks to that trait of humility, it is what allows improvement in the field to be transmitted from generation to generation.
Sowing Reflection
Neither the position in an organization, age, knowledge, gender, among other characteristics, grant any right or privilege to exercise any kind of superiority, since treatment among equals aligned in this regard is a demonstration of education. The superlative level of this disinterested treatment is humility. Saying I can’t is only as powerful as I support you
What I suggest you be alert for, dear reader, is false humility, that pretentious position that pretends to be legitimate and only seeks to gain an advantage.
And you, do you consider yourself really humble? I would love to hear from you at @soyjuanbecerril on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn to follow this constant exchange of ideas.
Until then