Confident Humility
The City of Waterloo is doing something special.
I may be a little biased in my assessment, but hopefully you can indulge me for a moment here.
Waterloo City Council has directed staff to enter into negotiations with Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region to get a transformational affordable and attainable housing project built on city-owned land.
There has been excellent reporting on nuts and bolts of the project, but what makes this project special isn’t just the size and scope. As an aside, the size and scope is truly special. This project is something we’ve never seen in the Region and would be the largest Habitat for Humanity-led project ever in Canada. So the size and scope is really special, but it doesn’t stop there.
What makes this project so exceptional isn’t just the buildings, but the spirit in which the city is engaging the community.
Think about this for a moment. As a society, how often do we celebrate leaders who say “I don’t know” as strong and compelling? How often do we praise those in power for admitting they need help?
It’s not something we do very well anymore. Too often we call it weakness or a failure of leadership, but I think it actually takes real confidence. Not bravado or arrogance, but true confidence.
It takes a real confident humility to put aside egos and control and say “we need help”.
And that’s what the City has done. The Request for Expression of Interest the City of Waterloo put out didn’t outline their perfect solution or assume they knew the best answer but rather asked how can we, together, make a difference in affordable housing?
That humility is an often overlooked part of what makes partnerships possible. And as I’ve been saying for as long as anyone will listen, the only way out of this housing crisis is together. It’s partnerships or bust at this point.
I think this confident humility is the way forward in our partnerships. Partnerships are at their most impactful when people can do what they are best at and ask for help in the weak areas. A partnership where everyone is only asked to do what they are best at is one poised for real impact.
In a time when the housing crisis has reached unprecedented levels, it’s clear that the only way forward is together. The City of Waterloo has recognized this truth. Rather than seeing themselves as experts in affordable housing or development or construction, the city said we need help. They then set out to partner with experts in all those areas to change our community. This is the type of leadership we need to applaud.
And we as community need to be a part of this. We need to show our confidence in those displaying this confident humility. Confidence in our leaders. Confidence in industry experts. Confidence in our shared commitment to a better community.
Waterloo is showing us the way forward—not just in housing, but in leadership. When humility leads, when collaboration thrives, and when community is at the heart of the solution, real change becomes possible.
Philip Mills, CEO Habitat Waterloo Region
