Does the future belong to humble leaders?

As the world of work becomes increasingly fragmented – and the world itself grows ever more volatile – traditional command-and-control leadership models are showing their limits. Against this backdrop, humility is rapidly rising up the leadership agenda. Humble leadership fosters trust, creates psychological safety and unlocks collective intelligence – qualities that help teams adapt in uncertain times.

Leaders with humility listen deeply, empower others and, crucially, own up to their mistakes, creating cultures in which people feel genuinely heard and are willing and able to share their ideas.

This Think Ahead panel drew together both academic insight and real-world experience, through speakers Dan Cable, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School – whose research underscores the impact of humble leadership on performance and retention – Rosie Bailey, CEO and co-founder of Nibble Technology, and Ross Bailey, Global Head of Data and Content at the Economist Intelligence Unit. Together, they explore what leadership could and should look like in 2026.

The panel was moderated by Andrew Hill, Senior Business Writer at the Financial Times.

Adaptive vs humble

As the panel kicked off with an audience poll – which leadership trait do you think organisations need most in 2026? Adaptability led by a wide margin at 45%, followed by empathy (22%), transparency (17%), humility (9% – notably low-scoring given the topic of the day), and decisiveness (6%).

But panelist Dan argued that “adaptability is the outcome we’re looking for when we talk about humble leadership.”

Ross agreed, defining humble leadership both by what it is – possessing qualities of self-awareness – and what it is not – not being overly defensive or feeling the need to own every decision.

Humble vs insecure

Prompted by an audience question, the panel clarified that humble leadership does not equate to insecure leadership. In fact, being humble requires a fair amount of confidence, Dan asserts: “It may sound strange to put it this way, but if a leader is confident enough to say, ‘Here’s the direction I think we need to go in – but I don’t know the best answer. What do you think?’ and to bring in other people’s ideas, thoughts, and perspectives, then people feel both heard and led.”

Being a humble leader, he argued, is more important now than ever, because in times of rapid change, even if leaders have the right answer in the moment, things can turn on a dime. “This top-down approach, where the leader confidently assumes they have the right answer and can get everybody acting in the right, market-oriented way, just doesn’t hold water anymore,” he noted.

Space and structure

Humble leadership means giving people the space to innovate, but this needs to be facilitated within the right structure or framework, said Rosie. She describes a conversation with a CEO, who explained that if he personally chose and pushed innovations top-down, he could only test a few each year and wouldn’t know for a long time if they’d worked. Instead, he let each of his teams choose a couple of ideas to trial. He invested in a tech platform that acted as a “safe box” for experimentation, allowing teams to test ideas quickly. If a trial showed promise, the person behind it had to persuade two other teams to use one of their own trial slots to test it. Once three teams validated an idea, the organisation adopted it organically – without the CEO needing to step in.

Ross built upon this idea, adding the notion of psychological safety to the mix. One of the worst phrases a leader can use, he said, is “I just want a throat to choke.” That mindset is finger-pointing and directly opposed to creating psychological safety.

The alternative is accountability with empowerment – creating the conditions where people feel ownership rather than fear. Humble leadership “isn’t about stepping away, being absent, or being weak,” he said. In fact, it often requires more effort to design the right frameworks – setting clear terms of reference, defining governance, and then stepping back so teams can think independently.

A powerful exercise is to encourage people to distill purpose for themselves on a team-by-team basis, he explained, rather than just at an organisational level, giving them ownership over that purpose.

Overcoming barriers to humility

Responding to a provocation from an audience member – who suggested that in many organisations humility is still quietly punished – Rosie argued that being humble can bring knowledge, and knowledge can bring power. A willingness to listen and learn may actually make you knowledgeable in ways that the rest of your team, your peers, or even your boss are not. “But you don’t have to share that knowledge randomly,” she cautioned. “At that point, you have it, and you have the opportunity to present yourself as uniquely positioned. You become a broker – able to use that knowledge to do what you need to do to get promoted. I think you can be tactical and canny about it.”

She also advises that when working with less-than-humble leaders, it’s a good idea to think carefully about what might genuinely inspire them. “What have I seen – in technology, on social media, even on TikTok – that made me think differently? How can I package that in a way that lands?” she said. “It’s a bit like marketing. You might only have 30 seconds. How do you make it vivid enough to cut through?”

Another tactic, she said, is to wait until you have a success, then link that success to the freedom to innovate and the humility of bringing in diverse viewpoints. “It’s slow and steady. But once it works, you elevate it, because that’s what organisations ultimately respond to: proof.”

Six practical ways to lead with humility

So is humility something you can teach and learn? Not exactly, according to Dan. “Just because we run a class on humility doesn’t mean people walk out more humble,” he said. Understanding the concept isn’t the same as changing behaviour. But humility can be developed – starting with a mindset which can feel quite uncomfortable for a leader: recognising that they “don’t create value unless they get the most out of the workforce.”

What does that look like in practice? Here are some starters for ten:

• Flip the value equation Instead of assuming others serve you as the leader, ask: how do I serve the people who actually create value?

• Build the framework – then listen Be clear about what success looks like. But acknowledge: “I may not know the right way to meet those goals.” Ask, listen, and learn from the people closer to the work.

• Ask the second question Rosie has a powerful mantra: “Ask the second question.” Don’t settle for the surface answer. Follow up. You can’t ask a meaningful second question unless you’ve truly listened to the first answer.

• Measure your talk-to-listen ratio As Ross puts it, you’ve got “two ears and one mouth.” In one-to-ones and meetings, ask yourself: am I talking more than I’m listening? If so, you may be modelling control, not humility.

• Create structure that reduces ego Humble leadership isn’t absence of leadership – it’s design. Set clear terms of reference, define governance, establish agendas in advance, and be intentional about who speaks first. (Clue – it shouldn’t always be you.)

• Normalise learning – and say it out loud A humble leader who shares their mistakes and pivots makes it safe for others to do the same. That turns the organisation into “a learning machine” – one that can adapt, stay relevant and avoid the fate of leaders who just want “a throat to choke.”

In short, humility isn’t about shrinking yourself or taking a step back. It’s about self-awareness, the ability to listen and learn from different viewpoints, and creating space for ownership, experimentation and shared success.

Watch the conversation in full here: