Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author.

“In the spring of 1966 the ground did not feel entirely firm beneath our feet. We were shaken by new revelations and stirred by ancient fears. The modern world brought uncertainty and our troubles did not always vanish when we turned to face them.”

This episode dealt with trying to find a way forward for Nonnatus House and the realization that the Lady Emily Maternity Hospital would not be the panacea or the answer to their financial woes. Another storyline was of Jacinta and her infidelity and resulting pregnancy. When her husband returns from sea early they face this family crisis and Desi eventually shows forgiveness and then acceptance of the baby. Cyril and Lucille along with Fred and Violet help a family that is dealing with an unfair eviction and homelessness.

I would like to focus my blog post on personal characteristics that I find the midwives and nuns really exemplify—honesty, integrity, and humility as they move forward in their important work – or as Sister Monica Joan terms it – as they face varied conundrums. Their calm and steady presence lends true support to others and it is their humility that helps them to really zone in and focus on their work at hand. This humility is a skill that everyone can work to foster in our modern times as we face many of these same issues (homelessness, disparities, social injustice, and everyday life’s conundrums). In particular I note enormous growth in Sister Francis: growth in her midwifery skills, confidence in her presence within her role, and humility in what it takes to engage for deepened connections.

It got me exploring a little about humility. Humility is really having a realistic view of who you are and not being self-important. Humility is an attitude of modesty and really looking at the larger order of things and where we fit within this realm. Sister Francis noted that she felt unworldly and that she had not experienced many things that her clients were experiencing or facing. It was a team effort with Sister Hilda helping her fill some of that gap with reading – we will call it research – with reading some current magazines to connect with the times! Sister Julienne reinforced this exploration to help Sister Francis feel closer to or deepen her knowledge base of her clients.

Exploring the trait of humility has had resurgence in recent times—in some ways as a counter-reaction to modern self-entitlement. Researchers are exploring links between humility and our ability to learn, to be effective leaders, and readiness to engage in prosocial behavior. Humility was a core value in ancient ethical and theological frameworks and I enjoyed reading reflections from Confucian writings, Greek philosophers such as Socrates and Aristotle, and Christian writings exploring this virtue. Humility was often ‘other’ focused with the importance of knowing what you do not know and acknowledging those gaps or blind spots with an accurate self-knowledge (both the strengths and the weaknesses) and a generous acknowledgement of what others bring to the table.

In this modern world there is so much negativity and divisiveness on social media. I wish Human Resources would think more about this when they are hiring individuals. Can you imagine the impact on your community whether that be a school, clinical practice, business, or organization? Worthington and his colleagues (2017) write of 3 components to humility which entail a) an accurate self-perception, b) modest self-portrayal, and c) other-oriented relational stance. Researchers report that humble people usually show outstanding leadership qualities and effectiveness (Owens & Hekman, 2012; Owens & Hekman, 2016), have higher coursework grades (Rowatt et al., 2006), and demonstrate altruism at work (LaBouff et al., 2012). McElroy (2014) wrote about this in his dissertation and coined this characteristic as the “social oil hypothesis”. He stated it was “like oil preventing an engine from overheating”. Humble individuals are more likely to be more empathetic toward others’ mistakes leading to a buffering of negative interpersonal interactions and enhanced team success, a strengthening of the quality of a relationship, and increased psychological well-being of team members. I smiled when I read a study by McElroy and his colleagues (2017) where they wrote that humble employees could be the “good eggs” in their work teams. Humble people tend to praise and appreciate others’ strengths and acknowledge others’ contributions when working together and have the capability of preventing and repairing negative social interactions with others.

You can witness this virtue in the Call the Midwife characters. We witness their generosity, helpfulness, and positive communication styles. There is a true authenticity in the way they engage. I read that there is a difference in modesty and humility—modesty underrepresent positive traits, contributions, or their strengths while humble individuals are self-aware, value integrity and self-expression but that there is an emphasis on others’ strengths in their pursuit of continual growth and learning. The nuns and midwives definitely advocate and empower their clients, families, and their community. Other characteristics that the researchers explored, which we also note in our strong characters and storylines, include virtues such as sincerity, fairness and greed avoidance.

I found a website called Skills You Need and they state we can all work on developing or showing humility by:

• spending time listening to others,
• practicing mindfulness and focusing on the present,
• being grateful for what we have,
• asking for help when it is needed,
• seeking feedback from others regularly, and
• reviewing our actions against the language of pride

Some of the benefits of displaying more humble ways would appear to be building better and healthier relationships. It could lead to more altruistic actions. As you embrace evidence based care it would assist you as you work through the shared decision making process. I am looking forward to Episode #3.

“Certainty isn’t everything…sometimes the unknown is better than the known and courage and love make many things possible… if not all. Much is asked of people on their journey—humility is called for and acceptance and resolve…these are the quiet gifts. These are the qualities that help us to stand fast when the world would have us falter and our path is strewn with stones. So move forward putting one foot in front of the other …. Other lives in front of ours. There is pain but there is love and there is hope.”

RESOURCES

LaBouff, J. P., Rowatt, W. C., Johnson, M. K., Tsang, J. A., & Willerton, G. M. (2012). Humble persons are more helpful than less humble persons: Evidence from three studies. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(1), 16–29.

McElroy, S. (2017). A review of humility measures and a test of the social bonds and social oil hypotheses [Doctoral dissertation]. Georgia State University.

McElroy, S. E., Rice, K. G., Davis, D. E., Hook, J. N., Hill, P. C., Worthington, E. L., Jr., & Van Tongeren, D. R. (2014). Intellectual humility: Scale development and theoretical elaborations in the context of religious leadership. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 42(1), 19–30.

Owens, B. P., Rowatt, W. C., & Wilkins, A. L. (2012). Exploring the relevance and implications of humility in organizations. In K. S. Cameron & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship (pp. 260–272). Oxford University Press.

Owens, B. P., & Hekman, D. R. (2016). How does leader humility influence team performance? Exploring the mechanisms of contagion and collective promotion focus. Academy of Management Journal, 59(3), 1088–1111.

Skills You Need: Humility

Rowatt, W. C., Powers, C., Targhetta, V., Comer, J., Kennedy, S., & Labouff, J. (2006). Development and initial validation of an implicit measure of humility relative to arrogance. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(4), 198–211.

Worthington, Jr., E., Davis, D., & Hook, J. (Eds.) (2017). Handbook of humility: Theory, research, and applications. New York, NY: Routledge.