What does humility mean as a company value?

Being accurate about the limits of what you know and about who did the work. It is a calibration rather than a temperament, which is why quiet people are not automatically humble and confident people are not automatically not.

How do you recognise humility at work?

Describe a concession. Somebody changing position publicly when the other argument was better is observable, repeatable and rare, and it says far more than a compliment about their modesty.

Is there a risk in praising humility?

Yes. Applied to somebody who consistently does not claim credit, it can become the reason they keep not getting any. Recognise the specific behaviour, and separately make sure their contributions are attributed.

What is the strongest signal of humility from a leader?

Hiring somebody better than they are at the thing they are known for, and asking questions of whoever actually knows rather than whoever is senior.

Company values

Humility

Humility is easy to praise in a way that sounds like relief that somebody is not difficult, which is not the same compliment at all.

It is a calibration, not a temperament

Humility gets used to describe quiet people. Plenty of quiet people are not humble and plenty of confident ones are, because the value is about accuracy: knowing what you do not know and who did what.

That is observable. Whether somebody is loud is not relevant.

The praise has a trap in it

Calling somebody humble because they never claim credit can slowly become the reason they never receive any. It is a compliment that costs them.

Recognise the specific act, and separately make sure the work is attributed to the person who did it.

How you would know

Concedes in public: Changes position when the other argument is better, where people can see it.
Says what they do not know: Answers with the limit of their knowledge rather than a confident guess.
Passes credit accurately: Names who actually did the work, including when it makes their own contribution smaller.
Asks the junior person: Takes a question to whoever knows rather than to whoever is senior.

6 messages that name it

You changed your mind in front of the team when Nour made the better argument. That did more than any process.
Peer manager
One incident with a lasting effect.
Thank you for saying “I do not know yet, here is what we are checking” instead of guessing.
Manager
Quotes the behaviour exactly.
You told the exec team it was Sam’s design. He would not have said anything.
Peer
Credit passed on at a cost.
Marcus asked the newest engineer on the team because she knew the answer and he did not.
Manager
Small, precise, unusual.
Thanks for hiring somebody better than you at the thing you are known for.
Peer manager
Recognises a decision requiring real security.
You said the first version was yours and it was wrong. Nobody would have checked.
Manager
The last clause is the point.

What its absence looks like

Where humility is absent, meetings are won rather than resolved, and the answer everybody acts on is whichever confident person spoke first.

Recognising it well

Recognise the concession, not the modesty. A person who conceded a specific argument has done something; a person who is generally unassuming has not.
Be careful of praising quietness. “Humble” applied to somebody who never takes credit can quietly become the reason they never get any.
Thank accurate credit-passing. Naming who really did the work costs the speaker something, which is what makes it worth recognising.

Questions people ask

What does humility mean as a company value?: Being accurate about the limits of what you know and about who did the work. It is a calibration rather than a temperament, which is why quiet people are not automatically humble and confident people are not automatically not.
How do you recognise humility at work?: Describe a concession. Somebody changing position publicly when the other argument was better is observable, repeatable and rare, and it says far more than a compliment about their modesty.
Is there a risk in praising humility?: Yes. Applied to somebody who consistently does not claim credit, it can become the reason they keep not getting any. Recognise the specific behaviour, and separately make sure their contributions are attributed.
What is the strongest signal of humility from a leader?: Hiring somebody better than they are at the thing they are known for, and asking questions of whoever actually knows rather than whoever is senior.