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Council and Sowcik  Advancements in Agricultural Development 
  Volume 1, Issue 3, 2020 
  agdevresearch.org 

1. Austin Council, Instructor, Virginia Tech, 175 West Campus Dr., MC 0343 Blacksburg, VA 24061, adc@vt.edu, 
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1160-6991     

2. Matthew Sowcik, Assistant Professor, University of Florida, 217 Rolfs Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611, sowcik@ufl.edu,  
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5630-2281  
 

 
55 

 

Exploring the Development of Humble Leaders in the Context 
of Agriculture 
A. Council1, M. Sowcik2 

 
 

  

Abstract 

The complexity of the world today requires leadership that is interconnected rather than self-
serving. This is particularly important within the context of agriculture, a field at the forefront of the 
complex problems associated with the impact of climate change. In recent years, the role virtues 
play in effective leadership has gained a significant amount of attention. One particular virtue that 
has seen increased attention in the leadership research is humility. Humility has been identified as a 
way to counteract the negative outcomes of self-serving leadership, namely, unethical practices and 
leader narcissism. Over the past several decades, researchers and scholars have begun to shed light 
on the many benefits this elusive virtue brings to leadership, however, many questions remain, 
notably, “How do humble leaders develop their leadership?” The present qualitative study found 
that humble agriculture leaders develop their leadership style through (a) the development of strong 
personal values, (b) investments in human and social capital, and (c) supportive feedback. The 
findings from this research provide recommendations for agricultural leadership educators to 
consider when building leadership programs that have the goal of developing humble leaders ready 
to address complex problems in the context of agriculture and natural resources.  
 
 
Keywords 

Leadership development, agricultural leadership, humility development  



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Introduction and Problem Statement 
 
We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous (VUCA) world, burdened with complex, 
adaptive, problems that hold no easy solutions (Kinsinger & Walch, 2012; Satterwhite et al., 
2015; Heifetz & Linsky, 2002). This is especially true for those taking on leadership roles in the 
context of agriculture and natural resources. Whether it is currently addressing the issues of a 
global pandemic or feeding a population of 9.6 billion people by the year 2050, these are some 
of the most pressing adaptive challenges our world faces (Stedman & Andenoro, 2015; Roberts 
et al., 2016). Due to these present and future complex challenges, effective leadership is 
critically important. However, leader centric models are still prevalent in the leadership 
landscape, which may be one reason for increased leader narcissism, unethical behaviors and 
ineffective leadership practices addressing these complex challenges (Morris et al., 2005). As a 
result, the role of virtues as an important element of effective leadership has gained traction 
over the past two decades in the leadership research (Pearce et al., 2006).  
 
With calls for more comprehensive and interconnected virtue driven leadership models (Prime 
& Salib, 2014), humility has been brought to the forefront of leadership discourse as a way to 
counteract leader narcissism and promote more other-centered adaptive leadership practices 
(Owens & Hekman, 2012; Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Morris et al., 2005). As the often-
repeated quotation attributed to St. Augustine goes, “Humility is the foundation of 
all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be 
any other virtue except in mere appearance” (quoted in Lavelock, et al., 2017). Yet even though 
humility in agricultural leadership is so critical to address complex problems, little is known 
about how humble agricultural leaders develop their leadership practices. The current study 
explores this gap found in the leadership literature associated with the development of humble 
leaders in the context of agriculture and natural resources. 
 

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework 
 
Historically, the virtue of humility has been viewed in a negative light (Tangney, 2000). Often, 
those addressing the virtue describe a humble person as frail and subservient, lacking self-
confidence, and self-admiration (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Due to these negative 
perceptions of humility, it has largely been absent from the early literature on leadership. 
However, over the past two decades the research on this trait has emphasized its importance 
on numerous prosocial behaviors and positioned humility as an accuracy of the self (Tangney, 
2000), an increased focus towards others (Van Tongeren & Myers, 2017), and an increase in 
one’s connection to the larger environment (Bollinger & Hill, 2012). This notion of accuracy 
influenced Sowcik et al. (2017) definition of humility, which was used in the current study, as “a 
proper perspective of oneself, one’s relationship with others, and one’s place within the larger 
environment” (p. 170). 
 
The connection between the virtue of humility and leadership effectiveness can also be seen in 
the leadership literature over the past twenty years. Collins (2001), in the book Good to Great: 



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Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, identified leaders in the most enduring 
and successful companies and found that each of these leaders demonstrated a blend of 
personal resolve and humility. Collins was not the only researcher to identify benefits between 
humility and leadership in the context of organizations. Johnson et al. (2011) discovered 
humility was a significant predictor of job performance. Vera and Rodriguez-Lopez (2004) 
discussed the connections between humility and a leader’s ability to differentiate between 
traits like confidence, self-image, and self-appraisal from brashness, narcissism, and inflexibility. 
Additionally, humility appears to have a positive effect on teams (Rego et al., 2017; Chiu et al., 
2016) and prosocial characteristics such as a better ability to receive from others (Exline, 2012), 
fostering helpfulness (LaBouff et al., 2012), and forgiveness (Powers et al., 2007), all of which 
are important in effective leadership. While there has been evolving influx of research on the 
relationship between humility and leadership, there is still scarce research on the development 
of humble leaders. 
 
Although limited research exists concerning the development of the virtue of humility, there 
are some guiding beliefs that help to inform the overall development of virtues. According to Li 
(2016), virtues can be learned, developed, and cultivated. Li’s (2016) argument for the 
cultivation of humility was contingent upon what cultural values (Eastern vs. Western) were in 
place to foster growth. Others writing on the topic of virtue have argued that humility can 
develop from a secure relationship with others, which in turn influences secure attachment and 
lays the foundation for the virtue’s development (Dwiwardani et al., 2014; Peterson & 
Seligman, 2004; Bowlby, 1973). Finally, “awe-inspiring experiences” have also been linked to 
the development of humility (Stellar et al., 2018). Stellar et al. (2018) hypothesized that 
individuals who confront an experience that challenges their worldview, first experience awe, 
then foster a feeling of self-diminishment, and finally develop a sense of humility. While each of 
these perspective offer insight into the development of humility, more research is needed to 
identify the key components associated with the development of humility in effective leaders. 
 

Purpose 
 
The purpose of the present study was to explore themes that address the development of 
humble leaders in the context of agriculture and natural resources. Specifically, we sought to 
answer the question: “How do identified humble leaders in the agriculture and natural 
resources industry perceive their humble leadership development?”  
 

Methods 
 
We utilized a basic qualitative design due to the exploratory nature of real-life leadership 
development experiences among identified humble leaders in the context of the agriculture 
and natural resources industry. For this study, we sought to understand how identified humble 
agricultural leaders made sense of their lives and experiences in relationship to their humble 
leadership development. The research sample consisted of five (n = 5) leaders in the agriculture 
and natural resources industry. Participants for the study were identified by a key informant, 



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who was the director of a cohort-based agricultural leadership program housed in a large land-
grant university in the Southeastern United States. This agricultural leadership development 
program “...develops and refines the leadership capabilities of leaders in agriculture and natural 
resources” (“Program Overview,” 2020). According to Marshall (1996), “A key informant is an 
expert source of information” (p. 92) because the informant has achieved status in their 
community and holds a “position of responsibility and influence” (Marshall, 1996, p. 92).  
 
In collaboration with the key informant, we established the following criteria to select the 
study’s participants: (a) the individual must have held a high level leadership position in the 
agriculture and natural resources industry, (b) the individual must have had a positive 
reputation within his/her organization and throughout the industry, and (c) the individual was 
seen as someone who practices humility, based on the definition of humility used in this study. 
Based on the established criteria for the study, we were given a list of 20 potential participants 
by the key informant, which was comprised of six women and fourteen men. After reaching out 
to all candidates, five individuals were interviewed based on their availability within the 
timeframe of the study. The participants selected based on their availability included five men, 
three who identified as being of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin, and two who identified as 
white.  
 
The researchers traveled to each participant’s physical location, which included a combination 
of work sites, offices, and places of business. Each interview lasted between 45 and 90 minutes. 
The participants, during the time of the study, were all in a senior leadership position and 
represented a different context in the agriculture and natural resources industry. For example, 
participant one, Gilbert (48 years old, white male, of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin) worked 
as the Executive Director in an agriculture insurance and advocacy company. The second 
participant, John (46 years old, white male), was a Senior Manager in the landscaping and 
nursery industry. Roy (47 years old, white male), participant three, is a Vice President in the 
forestry industry. Participant four, David (52 years old, white male, of Hispanic, Latino, or 
Spanish origin), owned and led an agrochemical company. Lastly, Cole (41 years old, white 
male, of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin), participant five, worked as a Senior Manager in the 
agricultural finance and lending industry. 
 
Semi-structured interview questions addressed the participants’ development into a humble 
leader. For example, one of the first questions asked was, “What kinds of life experiences have 
impacted your development as a leader?” Another critical question was, “What kinds of 
relationships with others have contributed to your leadership development?” During each 
interview, the primary investigator took extensive, hand-written field notes, which were 
compiled into a secure digital database. All interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed 
using an external organization, NoNotes.com. Member checking of both the transcripts and 
emergent categories occurred to determine accuracy and increase the reliability of the study. 
The data analysis process was inductive, using the constant comparative method and was 
completed by hand by the primary researcher. First, the process of in-vivo coding was used 
based on the language used by the participants to develop initial categories (Creswell, 2013). 
This was repeated several times until the data became saturated, and no new codes emerged 



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(Fusch & Ness, 2017). Once the codes emerged, inter-coder reliability was established by having 
another researcher familiar with humility, leadership development, and qualitative methods, 
serve as a “rigorous examiner and auditor” who concurred with all categorization of the data 
(Saldaña, 2015, p. 37). Lastly, it is important to recognize the relationship we had with the 
study, being stakeholders in the context of agriculture and educators developing the next 
generation of leaders at a large land grant higher education institution in the southeast United 
States. 
 

Findings 
 
The central inquiry explored in this paper was the development process of identified humble 
leaders in the context of agriculture and natural resources. As such, data that emerged from 
this inquiry captured the different developmental experiences throughout the course of the 
humble leaders’ lives. This question aligns with the notion of leader development as suggested 
by Avolio and Hannah (2008), “the factors that contribute to making a leader are in part a 
subset of all the formative experiences an individual has accumulated throughout the 
individual’s life course that may position the individual to more effectively assume leadership 
roles.” (p. 333-334). Three key themes emerged from the humble leaders’ perception of their 
leadership development. The first theme found in the coding of the interviews was the leader’s 
anchoring personal values, which strongly promoted their humble leadership. Three subthemes 
also surfaced out of the first major theme that addressed how the leader’s anchoring personal 
values were established including (a) value development influenced by family, (b) value 
development influenced by personal relationships with significant people, and (c) value 
development from significant life changes and experiential learning. Additionally, two more 
main themes were identified when exploring humble leader’s development including 
investment in human/social capital and the supportive feedback received by the leaders. 
 
Developed Anchoring Personal Values  
The first theme that emerged from the identified humble leaders’ overall perceptions of their 
development came from the anchoring personal values they gained throughout their lives. The 
humble leaders’ identified three different sources from which these values were established in 
their lives including: (a) values influenced by family, (b) values from personal relationships with 
significant people, and (c) values from significant life changes and experiential learning. 
 
Family Values 
A majority of the humble leaders expressed values learned from relationships with their 
parents, siblings, and/or other close relatives. For example, Gilbert described that his father 
taught him values such as being honest and truthful: “With my dad, always be honest. It’s easy 
to be honest and truthful than to try to backtrack or cover up your lies...” Similarly, David 
mentioned how he learned fairness from his dad: “One of the things my dad impressed upon 
me was fairness.” These perspectives provide insight into the role family played on humble 
leaders’ perceptions of their personal values. 
 



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Values from Significant People  
A second source of value development, from the perspective of the humble leaders, surfaced 
from the personal relationships they had with significant people in their lives. In each case, the 
significant person in the humble leader’s life directly taught them values or modeled a 
particular value, which was observed by the humble leader. Many of the humble leaders 
discussed specific relationships they had over their life with identified mentors, friends and/or 
peers, teachers, and role models. For example, John learned the value of gratitude from a 
mentor: “He [Mr. H] also taught me thank you notes and the importance of sending a simple 
note to someone.” Additionally, Cole observed his teachers and their kindness, as well as their 
ability to go “above and beyond” in their roles. For example, his second-grade teacher would 
“always take family trips and always send postcards” and he remembered how that made him 
feel. Furthermore, this humble leader felt like his teachers “went above and beyond” and this 
was not something that all teachers would have done. He described them as “instrumental” in 
his development.  
 
Values from Significant Life Changes and Experiential Learning 
All five of the humble leaders described life experiences and/or significant life changes that 
influenced their value development. One of the humble leaders developed gratitude through 
his experiences traveling to India, where he saw the effects of poverty and the class system. 
Gilbert said, “The end of the story is, when you get back, you appreciate so much more what 
you have here. It’s nice to see what you see on National Geographic or Discovery channel but 
it’s not the same when you’re walking there and you’re smelling it.” All of the accounts saw the 
humble leaders go through a change and/or learning experience, which facilitated development 
of specific values. 
 
Investment in Human and Social Capital 
The second theme that emerged from the perspective of the identified humble leaders 
addressing their leadership development was an investment each made in their human and 
social capital. Four out of the five leaders described going through a formal agricultural 
leadership development program as an important developmental opportunity where they 
became more accurately aware of themselves, their relationship with others, and how they fit 
into a larger agricultural context. For example, during his time in this agricultural leadership 
development program, one of the humble leaders, Roy, suggested that the program showed 
him the key components of humility, accuracy of self, others, and the larger environment. He 
suggested, 

What [the leadership program] did for me as a leader is it, first of all, taught me about 
myself. It helped me understand my personality, how I process information, and what 
makes me the way I am. Then what it did was it taught me about my local community, 
others, and what my local community dynamics are. We then explored the national 
scene and where we are as a country, for example policy on the national level. Then the 
last thing that the program does is it helps us look internationally. What does agriculture 
look like on the international landscape. 

 



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John’s experiences with a leadership program also helped him develop as a leader through 
focusing on himself, others, and the bigger picture. For example, John developed relationships 
that influenced his leadership in terms of personal openness and team building: 

I always felt I was fairly open but again [the program] shined a light on that…I think [the 
program] reminds you of certain things and so, being open to others, team building, and 
what side of the table or where your bread plate is.   

Additionally, John experienced the power of participating in something bigger than himself, 
stating: 

...but above all I guess is a sense of doing something more than just for you. I have told 
several people considering going into the program that, yes, it’s a two-year program but 
is a lifelong commitment. Again, I wouldn’t have had that if not for the [program]. 

 
Finally, the importance of humility development through the participation in a leadership 
program was simply and concisely stated by Gilbert who said, “I think [the program] has helped 
me learn more about myself and about everything that’s happening around us.” This insight 
into the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and the larger environment laid a foundation for the 
humble leaders’ development. 
 
Supportive Feedback 
In all five cases, the humble leaders discussed the third emergent theme in the study, how they 
were influenced by supportive feedback given in their personal and professional lives. Humble 
leaders were shown encouraging feedback from a variety of support sources including friends, 
peers, identified mentors, or teachers. For example, Roy mentioned friends in his life who 
continue to be a source of supportive feedback to him by revealing blind spots in his leadership 
and encouraging him to think differently. Roy knows how “there’s blind spots in every man’s 
life” and what he tries to do is surround himself with “one or two good men” that care about 
him and love him, who he allows to “speak truth” to him and promises to them that he will 
listen to it, even if it’s “uncomfortable.” Furthermore, Roy explained what the process of 
feedback looks like through his friends:  

What happens when we put those blinders on is we get in a comfort zone and we don't 
want to break out of it. We want people to react the way we want them to react. We 
want them to respond the way we want them to respond. But because you have 
blinders on you can't see. You can't see the character flaws that you've got. Those guys 
can actually help me see that. 

Roy’s friends helped him see the blind spots in his leadership and continue to provide a level of 
humility in the way he observes himself, others, and his environment.  
 
Another humble leader, David suggest that his friends and peers have been a source of support 
and feedback for his development by instilling confidence in him and affirming his leadership. 
For example, during his time in college David and his friends were putting together a “slate of 
officers” to run for student body positions and David’s friends told him they wanted him “to be 
at the top”, which was “a real compliment” to David and “instilled a different kind of 
confidence” in him. This newly instilled confidence allowed David to more accurately see 
himself and the leadership role he could play within the institution. Later in life, when he was 



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considering running for a position within the Certified Crop Advisors (CCA) organization, David 
remembered his peers looking “around the room” and said ‘you are the guy that can lead us 
forward.’ From his perspective, David described this experience as “humbling” because it was a 
“challenge to rise to the occasion” and to not let others down. 

Anytime you are recognized, I think it's always humbling because you get to reflect on 
the question, 'Do I really deserve this?’ When you get awards, when you get recognition, 
when you get any win for an election. 

 
Finally, John described a mentor he had in college who believed in him, trusted him, and 
recognized his ability to be an advocate for the agriculture industry saying,  “...to have Dr. C 
have belief or trust that I can advocate for the University of Florida to me was a big thing. Dr. C 
was always someone I always looked up to...” David also described a particular experience 
where confidence was instilled in him from his peers in high school suggesting,  

...in high school I was treasurer of our sleight of officers, in college I was the president 
and that was a really good experience when we were trying to put a slate together for 
my class and my peers, my friends said, ‘We want you to be at the top.’ Me?  Why? ‘We 
think you're the guy.’ That was a real compliment and instilled confidence. 

These recollections shed light into the role supportive feedback played in the humble leaders’ 
pathways to leadership development. 
 

Conclusions, Discussion, and Recommendations  
 
The agriculture and natural resources industry is in need of leaders who can address complex 
problems at the local, state, national and global levels. The findings of this study begin to shed 
light on how humble agricultural and natural resource leaders view their leadership 
development. The first of these factors includes the development of an individual’s personal 
values and the role they play in developing humble leaders. Tangney (2002) wrote that 
“...parents, teachers, teachers, heroes and community leaders all play a role in modeling (or not 
modeling) a sense of humility for the subsequent generation” (p. 417). Life experiences also 
emerged as a theme that influenced the development of personal values that contributed to a 
humble leader’s development. All five identified humble leaders mentioned a pertinent life 
experience or change that contributed to their personal and professional values. In each case, 
researchers point to these experiences as opportunities for individuals to go through a deep 
reflection or altered sense of identity, all of which have been argued to facilitate the cultivation 
of humility.  
 
Based on these findings, leadership development programs should help participants identify 
which specific values guide their behavior, how to express those values in their relationships 
with others, and how these values connect to the larger community. In addition to intentionally 
drawing out individual values that leaders already prioritize, leadership programs can provide 
experiences shaping the values of their participants. Agricultural and natural resource 
leadership development programs that provide participants with these critical experiences, 



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such as community engagement opportunities or international leadership experiences, may 
have a greater likelihood of developing humble leaders.  
 
The second factor critical for developing humble agricultural and natural resource leaders, 
based on the study’s findings, was the influence placed on human and social capital. A majority 
of the humble leaders discussed the critical role a particular leadership program played in their 
development. These findings highlight the critical importance leadership programs have when it 
comes to providing time for individuals to understand one’s self (human capital) and how one 
relates to others and the larger environment (social capital). This is in line with the research on 
humility, which asserts that humility is “an accurate assessment of one’s abilities and 
achievements” (Tangney, 2002, p. 413) and “is also about an orientation toward others” (Van 
Tongeren & Myers, 2017, p. 155). In this way, the leadership program provided the time and 
resources for these leaders to focus on themselves, others, and the larger environment, 
allowing for increased accuracy of their perspective within these areas.  
 
Agriculture and natural resource leadership development programs should look to emphasize 
both teaching for personal leadership development, as much as it emphasizes educating 
participants about different leadership theories and practices. This time spent developing one’s 
intrapersonal and interpersonal knowledge/skills can be a useful starting point to develop 
humble leadership. Additionally, time to reflect on content and experiences that allow 
participants to explore themselves, others and the larger environment is critical to humility 
development. The time and resources allotted to these experiences are unlikely to happen 
outside of the leadership development program but are crucial in the development of humble 
leaders.  
 
A third factor found in the research was the role of supportive feedback in developing humble 
leaders. The type of supporting relationships described by the humble leaders provided a 
secure attachment, which research has shown virtues such as humility develop (Dwiwardani et 
al., 2014). Out of these secure attachments both positive and constructive feedback was 
presented to the humble leader allowing them to have a more accurate picture of their 
competencies, relationships with others, and perspective in a particular context. The findings 
from this study suggest that agricultural leadership development programs should promote 
supportive feedback opportunities for their participants as a way to cultivate humility in 
participants. One example, mentoring, can set up a structure that would give participants in the 
leadership program a chance to learn more about themselves by receiving continuous feedback 
from a more experienced individual.  
 
Recommendations for Future Research 
In effort to increase the validity and reliability of the current study, with more time and 
resources, a researcher should utilize a Delphi Method to select the humble leaders. 
Additionally, increasing the diversity of participants related to gender, demographics, and 
location would provide additional insights into humble leader development. Future research 
should also explore the relationship between personal values and humility. While this research 
does identify the important role personal values play in the development of humble leaders, 



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future research should explore whether humble leaders are more inclined to possess particular 
personal values. If particular values do emerge, it would be important to explore how the 
introduction of these values takes place in an agricultural leadership program.  
 
Additionally, future research should explore what types of leadership development programs 
provide opportunities for increased focus on human and social capital. While this study does 
identify leadership programs as important in the development of humble leaders, there are 
numerous types of agricultural and natural resources leadership program models. Further 
exploration is need into the impact different programs’ length, content, focus, and delivery 
have on humble leader development. 
 

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