The Power of Meekness (CPM Keynote)

On December 1, 2023, I enjoyed the opportunity to address the graduating class of the Certified Public Managers as part of the KU Public Management Center. I completed the program in 2008 during my first stint with the League of Kansas Municipalities and cannot speak highly enough about the experience. Here are my comments from the ceremony.

Good morning, Certified Public Managers! As mentioned, my name is Nathan Eberline with the League of Kansas Municipalities, and I am honored to address you today as you graduate from this prestigious program.

My experience with the CPM program – taking time to think and reflect on my organization—changed the trajectory of my career. The hours spent away from the daily grind provided a chance for my classmates and me to consider who we were, what we were trying to accomplish, and how we were going to get there.

CPM gave me a chance to hear from other leaders about what they were facing and how they were addressing similar issues that my organization was facing. The value of stepping away from the daily work to focus on the bigger picture is a lesson that has stuck with me for the past 15 years, and I hope it is equally engrained in your minds. In fact, if you take nothing else away from my message today, please lock this in: continue taking time to live out the examples that you drew from CPM.

Block time in your schedule—be it days or hours—to step away from your daily responsibilities and make sure that your target is clear. You need this time to make sure the daily tasks are moving you, your team, and your organization in the right direction. Treat that time with care and guard it selfishly.

I specifically encourage you to guard it selfishly, because the rest of what you do in the public sector is the opposite of selfish. At its very heart, public service is selfless, and I’d like to speak on two particular virtues today. As you embark on the next stage of your careers in public service, I want to share with you some thoughts on the importance of meekness and humility in leadership. These are not just virtues; they are essential skills for effective leadership. When we are meek and humble, we are able to create a more positive and productive work environment. We are also able to build stronger relationships with others, which is essential for achieving our goals.

How many of you were hoping I’d read from a dictionary today? Anyone? While I’m definitely a word guy, I promise I won’t be spending too much time looking at these words. Yet I want you all to think about the word “meekness.” Think for a second about what the word means to you, and then I’m going to read a brief translation from a Greek word that evolved into meekness.

This difficult-to-translate root (pra-) means more than “meek.” It does not mean weakness but rather strength under control; power without undue harshness.

I’ll wager that strength under control is likely a much different idea of what meekness means when thinking about the gentle lamb imagery that many of you likely pictured. Meekness is the ability to wield power with restraint. Meek leaders are not pushovers; they are simply wise enough to know that force is not always the answer. They are able to see other perspectives, to listen with empathy, and to find common ground. I will encourage each of you to embrace a posture of meekness.

While your particular role or even your particular organization may not seem on its face like a very powerful entity, take a moment to consider the larger picture. If you work for a city, your organization has some obvious power elements like charging and prosecuting crimes. But more broadly, there is societal dependence that the cities will clear the snow or come running if there is a fire or other emergency.

Many cities oversee wastewater treatment and other essential services. While they may seem like basic functions, think how sideways your community goes if these functions don’t happen. The same is true at the county, state, and federal level. The core functions that so many people take for granted are critical pieces for community to emerge.

So when you are providing direct service to citizens or leading a team that is serving, I’ll encourage you to take up the mantle of meekness as a first step to serving and leading well, because it connects strongly to my second point.

If you read pop-culture leadership books, you will likely find phrases like “Take risks,” “Think big,” and “Seize opportunities.” Yet I would challenge each of these ideas with the more powerful message to “be humble.”

Humility is a companion virtue to meekness, and it may be even more essential. A number of years ago, I was teaching on the subject of pride. I came across this observation by Mark Twain:

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

I expect and hope that many of us experienced that same realization ourselves with our own parents or elders somewhere along the way. But the only way it happens is with humility. When we think that we have the answers or have things figured out, the effect is to stifle curiosity and hinder our capacity to draw wisdom and insight from others, particularly those with differing views.

When I was 11 or 12, I went to the movies with my dad. Before the show started, he leaned over to me and said, “Nathan, there’s going to be a time not too long from now when you’re not going to want to go to the movies with me. That’s normal. And when it happens, we’ll take a break, and that’s perfectly fine.”

I quickly responded, “On no, Dad, that could never happen!” Well sure enough, the teen years arrived, and I definitely didn’t like the idea of hanging out with my dad.

But I thought, “If my dad knows enough that he can predict the future, he must have some other things figured out.” So I gritted my teeth and kept quiet when I no longer felt like hanging out with my dad. (I was still a teenager after all, so I couldn’t tell my dad he was right. I just made sure to listen carefully to his teaching).

If I had just dug in my heals and pushed further away, I would have missed out on lessons that my dad figured out during his decades of experience. The same problem of pride and stubbornness getting in the way of learning and wisdom is constantly at risk for us today.

Part of humility is the recognition that we are not all-knowing or all-powerful. It is the willingness to admit our mistakes and to learn from others. Humble leaders are not self-absorbed; they are focused on serving others and making a positive difference in the world. Increasingly when I am hiring people, I find myself looking for humility and the curiosity that often comes with it.

For many leaders—particularly those of the A-type personality—group projects were likely a burden going to back to your school years. Rarely do people pull their weight.

My daughter came home one day from sixth grade and was frustrated by the people on her group-project team. She told me that she came across a poster that summed up how she felt about the project:

When I die, I want the people I did group projects with to lower me into my grave so they can let me down one last time.

The quip is even funnier coming from a sixth grader. Yet if she carries that idea to adulthood, she’ll miss out on all the ways a team can be stronger than the individual.

My friend, Jay Hall, currently serves as Deputy Director for the Kansas Association of Counties. He and I were corresponding about humility, and he shared something he wrote that further explains why this trait is so important for leaders:

Intellectual humility is best described as a way of thinking, or a way of decision-making. It starts with the premise that you may not be right and, rather than rejecting challenges, you seek out dissent and new information as a way of challenging your own conclusions.

Within your organization, do everything you can to strengthen relationships with people who will both challenge you and improve your thinking. But to truly draw upon the learning and experience of others—even if humility isn’t in your nature—you can start practicing the skill by asking questions.

Curiosity to know more and asking questions to better understand others goes a long way to improve your own knowledge base and place yourself in the best position to learn. Humility is essential to be a continuous learner.

Meekness and humility are essential qualities for public servants. They are the foundation of good governance, which is built on trust, respect, and cooperation. When leaders are meek and humble, they create an environment in which people feel valued and heard.

Embracing meekness and humility cultivates a collaborative and problem-solving environment—ultimately leading to enhanced outcomes for all. And if you need a selfish motivation to embrace these virtues, please note that the traits can certainly serve you well. Approaching challenges with a humble and meek attitude not only fosters positive connections with others but also accelerates learning to help you succeed individually and organizationally.

Let me tie my message back to this morning’s graduation. I would offer that each of you have already demonstrated both meekness and humility by completing the Certified Public Management Program. They are necessary traits to give your time and energy with an open-handed posture to learn and improve. If you can hold onto these traits, they will continue to serve you well throughout your careers.

In our loud and ever-changing world that is so often dominated by bombast and ambition, remember that meekness is not weakness, and humility is not a lack of confidence. They are core values that nourish effective leadership and meaningful change. I hope we can all commit to leading with a spirit of meekness to wield power wisely and embrace humility to continuously learn and improve.

Congratulations once again on your graduation, and I eagerly look forward to working alongside you to make a positive difference in our communities. Thank you.