Arrogance or Humility – What Would You Follow?

Humility Defined: Believing and acting like “it’s not about me”.

Tony was in charge. But, nobody respected him, and he never seemed to notice. He was so caught up in himself that he had no clue what people really thought of him.

He didn’t listen to feedback. He argued until he won or others just gave up. He had to have the last word in every meeting. He talked over the top of people instead of listening to them. And if he was quiet in a meeting, he was only staying silent until he got a chance to rebut the ideas of others.

He made sure everyone knew about his past accomplishments. When he was in a training class, he would downplay the instructor’s points and tell others at breaks that the training was a waste of his time. He talked about his team, his performance, and his goals. Everything, and I mean everything, was about him.

All of us have encountered someone like Tony. It is really a sad statement to admit, isn’t it? None of us would ever think of ourselves as a Tony. But if we look in the mirror and are honest with what we see, our pride rears up and damages our ability to lead well.

Most leadership failures are character failures. And when you dig deep into why someone’s character failed them, you get two root causes – fear and pride. Pride is an insidious part of the human condition. In the Judeo/Christian world, pride is the original sin. Inside all of us is the desire to make it all about us.