Bigger, better, more – that seems to be the constant drive in modern society. Acquisition, growth and increasing market share are so often the goals of organisations.

However, just as killing the goose that lays the golden egg, greed is the path to failure more often than not.

McDonalds, on choosing to raise prices in the first quarter of 2012, when unemployment is high and consumer spending low, resulted in the first drop in same-store sales in 9 years. Hostess Brands declared bankruptcy after being unable to meet the demands of the bakery workers, resulting in 18,000 jobs lost.

Companies acquire new products, new subsidiaries and grow as big as possible without considering where to trim or prune at the same time. This growth is unsustainable – as with a tree that becomes top-heavy and eventually falls, so too do companies become unmanageable and wasteful.

Greed also results in unethical and corrupt behaviour. Politicians and business leaders seem to believe that it can be kept secret but this is a delusion. With modern technology and a digitized world, it is all too simple for one disgruntled employee to leak the truth, a simple matter to distribute the story quickly and widely.   Maybe it is partially arrogance too that makes these otherwise intelligent CEOs and politicians believe that they are untouchable.

Greed is ultimately self-defeating. It is Once-ler mentality that ensures that we chop down the trees without growing more, living in the here-and-now without any concern for the future. It is then no surprise when consumption outstrips supply when greed is the motivator.

Humility is the cure. Humility reminds you that in order to receive value, you must create value in equal measure (Ralph Marston). It requires complete honesty with yourself and no expectations.   It ensures that we don’t destroy what we set out to create, that we don’t self-destruct through greed.

Leadership training so often focuses on the skills required to be a better leader – writing skills, presentation skills, how to negotiate, how to deal with conflict and diversity. However, great leaders also need to be self-aware. That knowledge of oneself is essential in finding humility and avoiding greed.

Any leadership journey should include personal reflection, meditation and personal mastery. It is not something that happens once in a workshop – it is a way of life, a daily reflection on who we are and who we want to be.

“The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.” Phillips Brooks