Rob Foglia

Humble confidence is a great thing. It walks the line between the humility needed to continue to grow and the confidence needed to show your light.

It’s also a tricky thing. After all, showing confidence might contradict being humble. Being humble might mask confidence. It’s about walking the line between the two.

Personally, I am noticing this currently in my music. In the past, whenever anyone would ask me about my guitar playing, I’d always play it down, not wanting to brag. And while I know I’m not the best guitar player in the world, I’m pretty damn good. I learn quickly, I retain the information, and I have great tone. I can play all styles of music. I’m even venturing into and beginning to learn the jazz field. I got this.

The feeling I have right at this moment is the confidence that I wish to portray around music.  I must keep the humility though. Too much confidence can breed ego. Humility will keep that in check.

I’m reminded of the type of leadership that I see in hockey. There’s humble confidence all over the place in hockey. The bravado of even the flashiest players doesn’t scratch the surface of what we see in other sports. And yet there are amazingly confident, great leaders in hockey. 

This makes me think of one of my favorite leaders that I’ve observed as a Nashville sports fan: Mike Fisher. To set the stage, it’s the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Fisher had just joined the Preds as a trade deadline addition earlier in the season. This franchise had never won a playoff series, and was hoping that adding a player and leader like Fisher would get the team over the hump. We’re going against a veteran team in the Anaheim Ducks, a team that had pushed us around in the past.

It’s Game 3, the series is tied 1-1. It’s not only a pivotal game, but history shows that more than 2/3 of the time, the team that takes a 2-1 series advantage wins the round. It’s close to the end of the second period, the Preds have the advantage. The Ducks are trying to use physicality to get back in the game. Tensions boil over as the Ducks’ captain, Ryan Getzlaf, tried pushing around Fisher to swing the momentum in Anaheim’s favor. Within seconds, gloves are dropped, a couple of punches thrown, and Fisher and Getzlaf tussle down the ice.

While it may have been seen as just another hockey fight in the eyes of some, those invested in the series saw what just happened. The Preds’ new addition stood up to the Ducks, saying ‘not this time.’ Fisher did so unassumedly. He wasn’t looking for accolades. He wasn’t looking for the spotlight. He didn’t do this for flash or headlines. He was standing up for his tribe. For his team. For his newly adopted city.

It was humble confidence to a tee. The Preds went on to win the game, as well as their first ever playoff series.

Is humble confidence just a microcosm of good leadership?

I just got off the phone with some respected leaders in the real estate industry. And while we didn’t talk leadership specifically, as we caught up on some subjects that I was in the dark about, I learned about the leadership (or lack there of) that’s happening at the top level inside of some organizations.

These orgs that are lacking leadership are boosting ego, not humility. They’re more concerned about bottom line health than they are the long term well being of their organization. They’re making decisions based off of spreadsheets and what some HR pencil-pusher is deducing instead of off of impact.

Leaders create impact. Leaders make those around them better. Leaders build others up. They do so through humility, decisiveness, and evaluating an entire picture. The big picture. Evaluating the mission and the path.

Leaders look to spark others. They look to do so by leading from the front lines, the way Mike Fisher helped lead the Preds in 2011.

Leaders look to better others without the spotlight. They don’t care who gets what credit. Leaders just care that the mission is accomplished and that everyone around them is in a better situation.

Humble confidence might sound a bit like opposing ideals, and yet when they come together, it’s where the magic happens. Imagine if all of the business leaders we see and interact with would approach leadership with this bravado? Sure of themselves, yet humble enough to put others first.

Imagine if all business leaders approached their situation with the leadership that Mike Fisher showed in 2011? While they might not be able to drop the gloves in the board room, they can approach situations with the same kind of intention to lead their team into the next round without sacrificing people for bottom lines. Without sacrificing culture for dollars.

Quiet cool. Humble confidence.

– Rob 🤟