Leaders are humble, Mr Blatter

This article is part of the Contemporary leadership series

Humility is not a word often associated with modern leaders. Indeed, a humble leader is almost a contradiction in terms. But it shouldn’t be.

You only have to consider the recent shenanigans at FIFA, the world governing body of football to see this. Sepp Blatter’s insistence that he was the right man to dig the organisation out of the steaming pile of corruption allegations it found itself engulfed in was nothing short of breath-taking. Even when he resigned, Blatter still appeared baffled that his position was in question. No one can accuse him of humility.

Des Dearlove is co-founder of the Thinkers50. He is an Associate Fellow of Said Business School at Oxford University; an adjunct professor at IE Business School, where he taught the Strategic Communication Module on the International MBA; and the author of a bestselling study of the leadership style of Richard Branson. He has taught on the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme, and the Swarovski Academy in Switzerland, and teaches media skills and crisis management at Cranfield School of Management.

He is a former columnist to The (London) Times, contributing editor to the American magazine Strategy+Business, and co-editor of the bestselling Financial Times Handbook of Management. His books available in more than 20 languages include Gravy Training and Generation Entrepreneur (co-authored with Stuart Crainer).