“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” –  C. S. Lewis

It’s Mother’s Day, not only a day of celebration but a day of reflection. It’s amazing what mom do for us, and how they teach us. One leadership lesson I learned from my mom was humility. She thought you’d never be a great leader if getting credit is the driving force behind what you do.

My mom was a foster mother for dozens of kids over the years, but only the ones no one else wanted. That’s why I was raised in a household with American Indian babies, blind kids, ones with cleft palates, and African American babies.

It’s amazing what you could learn about people in 1956 by carrying a black baby around in the supermarket, by the way, a whole different lesson.

Mom opened her doors to people in need, like the unmarried mother who stayed with us until she could get settled because age was kicked out of her own home. Her child grew up to be a news anchor on channel 6 in Portland. But she never felt the need to tell people about it.

She was down at the homeless shelter in Portland every week for years, singing and sharing her faith, something I only found about it after her death.

She wasn’t doing it for “credit,” but because her faith said she should. She was a giver, not a taker. Actually doing these things were her motivation, not getting credit for it.

So I learned that it’s not who knows what you do, or how much credit your get. but what you actually do that matters. More people leadership in should think about that.

Thanks mom, for this and all the other lessons I learned from what you did instead of what you said.

Happy Mothers Day.