The Business
The quiet power of humility
Leadership for social sustainability
Authority can isolate as much as it can empower. How can humility, practised at home and at work, help university leaders?
By Lilian Ferrer, Professor and Manuel Orellana, Director of Finance and Management, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
"The wellbeing of any organisation depends less on hierarchy than on the quality of its relationships."
Across universities and organisations worldwide, the pace of change has accelerated. The pressure to deliver measurable results, publish and perform is intense. In such environments, humility can appear an unaffordable luxury. Yet humility may be the most sustainable form of strength we have.
In Spanish we often say soberanía sin soberbia, sovereignty without arrogance. It describes a quiet authority that influences without imposing and leads without dominating. This form of “inner sovereignty” allows leaders to guide with conviction while remaining open to dialogue and correction. In an age of constant visibility and competition, that balance is increasingly rare and increasingly necessary.
Even in academia, where reflection is valued, humility can be difficult to sustain. The metrics that define success, such as rankings, grants, citations, can easily shape our behaviour and our sense of worth. Through our own leadership experiences, we have learned how authority can isolate as much as it empowers. The intention to protect or accelerate progress sometimes silences dissenting voices or narrows the space for collective learning. Institutions proud of their excellence can unintentionally cultivate institutional pride: the belief that being the best means having nothing left to learn.
Recognising this has been one of our hardest lessons. Humility is not submission; it is care. It is the discipline of listening, of holding firm to purpose while remaining curious about other perspectives. When leaders stop listening, whether from exhaustion, conviction, or fear, their communities begin to fragment. When they listen again, trust and creativity return.
Leadership is, therefore, not only a matter of governance but of health; social health. The wellbeing of any organisation depends less on hierarchy than on the quality of its relationships. A healthy institution is one where people feel seen, respected and invited to contribute; where disagreement is not punished but processed; where excellence is shared rather than owned. These are also the foundations of social sustainability.
Sustainability is often discussed in environmental or economic terms, but there is a quieter dimension: the sustainability of our relationships. In the same way that ecosystems collapse when diversity is ignored, organisations decline when dialogue disappears. Leadership rooted in humility acts like an ecological buffer; it absorbs tension, allows regeneration and prevents burnout of both people and purpose.
The challenge is cultural as much as personal. Universities are full of talented individuals who have succeeded through mastery and perseverance. To ask them to lead with humility can seem counterintuitive. Yet the future of higher education may depend on it. Students and younger colleagues expect transparency, empathy and shared responsibility. They are not inspired by authority for its own sake, but by authenticity.
Cultivating such authenticity requires structural courage: valuing time for reflection as much as time for output; rewarding collaboration as much as competition; and recognising that listening is also a leadership skill. When humility becomes part of institutional culture, it reframes success; from control to connection, from visibility to impact.
We write this not from certainty but from experience, and from moments of error. There were times when we confused urgency with importance, or conviction with inflexibility. There were times when silence seemed easier than dialogue. What we have learned is that leadership is healthiest when it accepts imperfection as part of the process. The strength of leaders lies not in avoiding mistakes but in making space to repair them.
Humility also begins at home. Leadership, after all, is relational; it is practiced daily in the way we listen to our families, our teams and our communities. The patience required to guide a meeting and the patience required to guide a household come from the same source. Both are forms of care that sustain the common home we share.
To lead with humility is to understand that authority is temporary but influence through respect endures. Healthy leadership generates wellbeing that extends beyond institutions. It shapes professionals who replicate respect in their classrooms, hospitals, and public spaces. It strengthens the social fabric that allows societies to thrive amid uncertainty.
True sovereignty, then, is exercised not through control but through coherence, the alignment between values and actions. When power becomes care, leadership becomes sustainable. The question is not whether humility belongs in leadership, but whether leadership can survive without it.