I certainly think it’s possible to be toohumble. After years of a stalled career, I started moving up rapidly when I stopped being humble and self-effacing about my skills and abilities. Some people may see it as arrogance when I say “sure, I can do that”, but the Powers that Be never seemed to notice that I could until I started pointing it out pretty openly. I don’t necessarily trumpet my achievements to the world, but I make damn sure the people in charge of giving raises and promotions know what I can do. I’ve always been able to back it up with some to spare (so far, knock on wood), so it would be false and damaging to myself to sit modestly in a corner waiting to be noticed. Dog knows it did me no good other than to get me extra work.
I’ll take sincere, honest arrogance over obviously false humility any day.
“Not humble? I’ll have you know I am the most humble person around! My humility can kick your humility’s ass any day! And everyone knows it!”
Or put another way; if you are thinking about how impressed people will be by your humility, you are not humble at all. You are wearing designer sack cloth and imported ashes.
That’s true. I used to think it was always a virtue to be honest at all times about your faults, and point them out to others. That’s not true. Confidence is something that does have real value.
I think in my mind that humility is a good thing, and self-confidence is a good thing, and that you have to keep the two in balance. You don’t want to be arrogant, but you don’t want to be so self-effacing that you miss opportunities, or seem falsely humble. You don’t want to have a low self-worth, but neither do you want to put yourself on a pedestal all perched to fall off, either. It’s good to keep in mind that you’re good at your job, or smart, or funny, or whatever, but you also have to keep in mind that there are others who are your equal or better at those things, and maybe they’re good at something that you’re abysmal at.