[INTERNAL MEMO]
Hire Humility. Fire Ego.
One thing I think that makes ACQ such a great one to work is not just our core values, but the HUMILITY of the leaders and people here. You can find competent assholes left and right inside of companies. What I really love about ACQ is that there is a level of humility in our leaders and team that is beyond any team I have seen.
Now when I say humility please don’t be turned off lol. I don’t mean the soft version people picture where someone is ‘timid’.
The real version: knowing your true strengths and weaknesses, even when people around you say something different.
Here's a story that makes the point well that I remember hearing years ago. In ancient Rome, a general would come home after winning a huge battle. Crowds would cheer for him like he was a complete GOD.
But he would have a soldier stand behind him the whole parade, repeating one line in his ear: "You're only a man. You're only a man. You're only a man."
Why do that??? He knew that if the praise got to his head, he'd lose his edge. He stayed humble on purpose, because humble leaders keep learning, and leaders who stop learning LOSE, quickly.
Here's why this matters for you:
People who think too highly of themselves stop growing. They think they've already arrived.
People who act like they're always right are hard to work with. Most people don't want to follow someone they don't like.
When you admit a weakness, you give someone else room to help and to shine.
People don't connect with someone who looks perfect. They connect with real flaws.
I learned this the hard way years ago. I had a group of young, hungry leaders on my team. I coached them, praised them, and invested in them. I never warned them about one thing: nothing fails like success. Once they got praise and results, it went to their heads. They started taking all the credit and putting their own wins above the team's.
(Remember a great leader takes the blame and gives away the credit, not the other way around)
Two of them had their leadership scores drop from 98% to under 50% in eight months.
A leader who lets success get to their head becomes a bully. I won't make that mistake twice, which is why I want all of you to hear this now, before it EVER becomes even close to a problem.
So how do you actually use humility as a leader? Three rules:
1. Care about what's right, not who's right. Don't get defensive when you're wrong. Ask "what's best for the team," not "what's best for me."
2. Hire and promote for humility. Fire for ego. Being great at your job doesn't mean you'll be great at leading people. Humility is often a better sign of leadership potential than confidence is. Here's why: people who are bad at something usually don't see their own gaps. People who are truly great at something usually don't realize how rare their skill is, because it comes easy to them. That awareness of your own limits is what humility looks like.
3. To grow, admit what you're bad at. You can't take feedback if you don't believe you have room to improve. Watch for phrases like "I've always been this way" or "that's just who I am." Those are excuses, not identities. Defending your weaknesses is the fastest way to stop growing, and it slows down everyone around you too.
Now, what humility is NOT, because people mix this up constantly:
Being insecure or unsure of yourself.
Staying quiet and never sharing your real opinion.
People-pleasing.
Beating yourself up over mistakes and only seeing the negative.
Humility sits in the MIDDLE of a range.
On one end is servility, only seeing your weaknesses, never your strengths.
On the other end is arrogance, only seeing your strengths, never your weaknesses.
Humility is the accurate middle: you see both clearly.
So where do you fall? Rate yourself 1 to 5 on each of these four skills:
1. Ask for Feedback. Don't ask "how did I do?" That's too vague and gets you nothing. Ask "what's ONE thing I could do next time to make this a 10 out of 10?" Specific questions get specific answers.
2. Acknowledge Mistakes. Say what went wrong, out loud, to the team. Say what you're doing to fix it. Then move on for real. Don't dwell on it, and don't over-apologize. Both waste time you could spend on the fix.
3. Ask for Help. This is a skill, not a weakness. People like helping you. It builds the relationship, lets them see the impact of their help, and if you give them credit publicly, they'll want to help again.
4. Actively Listen. People talk more to people who they know are listening. Ask open questions like "what happened next?" Repeat back what you heard to make sure you got it right. Then respond.
This week: rate yourself 1-5 on each of the four. Find your lowest score. That's the one skill to work on first, not all four at once.
- Leila
PS: My scores are 3, 5, 2, 5 (so yes I’m bad at asking for help LOL)
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