The conventional wisdom is that it’s easy to be humble when you fail. It’s when you’re on top of the world that your true character is tested.
Just a year ago, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was, indeed, on top of the world. Today, in the wake of his sexual harassment scandal, he finally announced his resignation.
And yet, he showed zero humility. Right down to the end, this is a man who still sees himself as a victim, a well-intentioned leader who was burned by the brutal ways of politics.
This absence of contrition after such an immense failure is perhaps a sign of how intoxicated Cuomo still is with his aura of success. After all, he was celebrated throughout America at the height of the biggest crisis of our time. His daily press conferences on the COVID pandemic, which New York Magazine called “the most comforting show on television right now,” won him an Emmy award. People were talking about when he’d run for president.
Naturally, all of this got to his head. The problem is that his head was already that of an arrogant bully who is used to getting his way. When that kind of person makes it to the top, only the worst comes out.
The problem is that his head was already that of an arrogant bully who is used to getting his way. When that kind of person makes it to the top, only the worst comes out.
Consider Judaism’s first great patriarch—Abraham—who could easily have let it get to his head when God told him: “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you great. You shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth shall be blessed through you.”
It wasn’t the hardships and failures which followed Abraham on his journey that humbled him. He was already humble. He was already a man of good character. The same is true for Moses, who was chosen by God to deliver the Torah to the Jews, and who failed to enter the promised land. His humility was independent of failure or success. It was who he was.
Maybe this is the hidden lesson of the Cuomo saga. If you haven’t worked on your character and your humility, not even a monumental failure will save you.
