When someone practices golf, they become a golfer.  When you practice arrogance, you become arrogant.

How do the arrogant people we know become arrogant?  Through practice.  Nobody ever gets good at anything without practicing it.  Football players are great players because they practice.  Speakers are great communicators because they practice. And arrogant people are overbearing and tiresome because they practice.

Here is something that we should all understand.  Pride is in everyone.  We are born with pride. Pride tells us that we should focus on ourselves and be worried about “me”.  Pride fights a battle to control our choices and, therefore, control who we are becoming.  

The people who are losing that battle are the arrogant people.  They listen to those voices and they consistently choose themselves over others. They make it all about themselves. They practice arrogance, and therefore they become arrogant.  You are what you consistently do.

Arrogance:

• Doesn’t listen to the opinions of others.
• Refuses to admit weaknesses or mistakes.
• Demands the spotlight.
• Wants all the credit but none of the blame.
• Sees other people as tools to achieve their own goals.
• Refuses to compromise.
• Hears feedback as an attack.
• Sees people with different opinions as inferior or stupid.

Arrogance is the habit of letting your pride make decisions for you.  The more you choose pride, the more likely you are becoming arrogant. Your habits, the good ones and your bad ones, are the result of your choices.  Whatever you practice, that is what you become.  When someone practices golf, they become a golfer.  When you practice arrogance, you become arrogant.

However, you can choose something else.  You can choose Humility. No matter how long you have been choosing to listen to your pride, you can make a different choice starting today. By choosing Humility and practicing Humility regularly, you will become a humble person.

We define Humility as believing and acting like “it’s not about me.”

When you consistently choose not to make it about you, you are moving away from the habit of arrogance and choosing the habit of Humility.  Each time you replace the old prideful choice with the new humble choice, you are choosing what Leaders of Character choose. Leaders of Character practice Humility and other people want to be around them and want to follow them.

Question:

• If you had the choice between a competent, arrogant leader and a competent, humble leader, who would you choose?
• Why is Humility so inspiring to others?