Because they've confused leadership with having every answer. Humble leaders — the ones who ask for help, hear feedback, and admit mistakes — actually expand their capacity. Ego shrinks it. And in Schalee Sanchez's words, humility isn't weakness. It's the steering wheel that keeps a fast-moving business from crashing.
We sat down with Schalee Sanchez — author of The Humility You Want and the World Needs, keynote speaker, and host of the Flex With Purpose podcast — to talk about why humility might be the most overlooked leadership skill in contracting. Here's what we walked away with.
Most people hear "humility" and picture someone being quiet, staying small, or hiding their strengths. That's not what it is.
"True humility makes us more aware of the strengths we possess that enable us to contribute," Schalee told us. "It's the ability to know that in this moment, I do have something valuable to say — and then having the courage to say it with confidence."
Humility isn't the opposite of confidence. It's what makes confidence sustainable. Humble leaders aren't defensive. They can hear feedback, act on it, and keep growing. That's what expands a business — not the leader who has to be right about everything.
Here's the shift most contractors miss: the bottleneck in your business often isn't operations, hiring, or sales. It's you. Specifically, the version of you that has to have every answer.
"Ego holds us back from learning something new," Schalee said. "We want to look like we know everything. We don't like being bad at something in order to get good at it — and that is ego, every time."
Signs ego is running the show:
The truth is the opposite. Humble leaders bring in people who know more than they do — and their capacity expands as a result.
One of the best analogies from the episode:
"Imagine getting in the fastest car you can think of, putting your seatbelt on, and pressing the gas pedal all the way to the floor. Would you do it if there was no steering wheel? No. You'd crash. That's what ego does. Ego gets you going fast — but humility is the steering wheel that keeps you going somewhere."
Every contractor we know has speed. Deals, calls, referrals, projects — they can move. But without the steering wheel of humility (feedback, wisdom, other perspectives), speed just gets you to a crash faster.
Schalee brought up two historical disasters that both traced back to leaders refusing to listen.
The Titanic: Received 6 to 9 warnings about ice before it sank. None were acted on. The ship was "unsinkable."
The Challenger: An engineer had documented — twice — that the O-rings wouldn't withstand freezing temperatures. Leadership dismissed him because he wasn't part of the management team. The shuttle exploded 73 seconds after launch.
Both were failures of humility. Both had the information. Neither team listened.
Compare that to a Fiji Airways captain Schalee interviewed: "Humility is one of the most important things as a captain. If a first-day team member notices oil leaking from the wing, I have to be willing to listen. If I don't, I'll create damage that was completely avoidable."
That's every contracting business too. Your team sees things you can't. If ego blocks their input, you're going to make expensive mistakes you didn't have to.
Most contractors think admitting a mistake destroys their credibility. Schalee flipped that assumption hard.
"We don't lose credibility, because every leader has made mistakes," she said. "Every single one of them. Cover-ups make it bigger. Acknowledgment creates freedom."
Danielle put it best on the episode: "A mistake plus a cover-up equals a bigger mess."
The fastest path back to solid ground is acknowledgment. Own it, name it out loud, ask for input on how to fix it — and move on. Your team already knows you're human. The credibility loss doesn't come from making the mistake. It comes from refusing to name it.
If you're the contractor carrying everything on your own shoulders, Schalee's final message hit exactly where it needed to:
"You're not alone. There are people who know exactly how you feel. You don't have to figure it all out by yourself. It's just a matter of asking for help."
Pick one thing this week — a decision you've been sitting on, a mistake you haven't acknowledged, a skill you've been avoiding learning. Ask someone for help with it. The worst thing that can happen is you have some feelings. The best thing that can happen is your business expands because you did.
Grab Schalee's book: The Humility You Want and the World Needs — everything from this episode, expanded with more stories, tools, and frameworks.
Subscribe to Schalee's podcast: Flex With Purpose on YouTube or Spotify — honest, authentic conversations with leaders about growth, humility, and living beyond yourself.
Ready to stop being the bottleneck? See how The New Flat Rate gives your team the systems, pricing, and structure to run without you carrying every decision. Schedule a free demo.
Free resource: The Ultimate List to Retain Your Team — 100+ practical ideas for leading your team without carrying every decision yourself.