Religious experts say the two churches appear to have chosen as their heads men who combine strong leadership skills with a marked instinct for self-effacement, an affinity for the poor and vulnerable in society, and, believers in both denominations hope, a willingness to look anew at old problems.
Artful and amusing, Schiff's biography is a remarkable achievement given her subject's unparalleled talent for self-effacement.
A chief whip, according to Herbert Asquith, must have a large capacity for self-assertion and an even larger capacity for self-effacement.
That this self-conception emerges out of his scrupulous humility and instinct for self-effacement doesn't make it any less accurate or revealing.
But her capacity for self-effacement is matched by her friendliness and the enthusiasm she radiates when talking about her work.
Hitchens often gave the impression of knowing almost everything, and his monthly platform in that magazine, not best known for self-effacement, encouraged full licence of that facility.
His declared intention is to be an egoless conductor, a seemingly implausible goal in a profession not known for self-effacement, and perhaps an undesirable one.
"A spy must possess an almost unnatural ability to dissimulate, to hide in plain sight and a capacity for self-effacement and self-invention, which in itself is dangerous".
The friend later observed that Weil could be blind to the difficulties she imposed on others in her quest to "fulfill her extraordinarily self-centered vocation for self-effacement".
Mr. Freston, who generally has a reputation for self-effacement, spreads the credit for this level of success to the senior executives under him, many of whom have been with him for most of his run.
