Confidence vs. Arrogance by Mike Myatt
When you think of a true leader do you envision someone with the quiet confidence of Michael Dell or the blatant arrogance of Donald Trump? In the competitive world of business a reserved attitude of humility can often be misinterpreted as a sign of weakness. However if you’ve ever negotiated with a truly confident and humble person you’ll find that their resolve is often much greater than the feigned confidence of the arrogant.
Great contrasting examples of confidence vs. arrogance as it applies to leadership would be the quite confidence of World War II General’s Omar Bradley and Dwight Eisenhower vs. the often outrageous arrogance of General’s George Patton and Douglas MacArthur. All four were great strategists and tacticians, but two of the four definitely went down in history as better leaders who commanded greater loyalty and respect from peers and subordinates alike.
The truth of the matter is that few things have inspired and motivated me over the years like the quiet confidence and humility of great leaders. I would much rather listen to the self-deprecating humor of confident person making fun of themselves than the mean spirited attacks of an arrogant person waged at someone else’s expense. More importantly, I would much rather work for, or along side of, the understated than the overstated.
While arrogant people can and often do succeed in business I believe that it comes at a great personal and professional cost. Arrogance rarely results in lasting relationships built on a foundation of loyalty and trust. Rather arrogant people typically find themselves surrounded by exploitive individuals who are all to happy to ride the “gravy-train” in good times, but at the first sign of trouble all you will see is their backs as they run for the hills.
The confident also succeed in business, but not at the expense of others as do the arrogant. You’ll find confident leaders have broader spheres of influence, attract better talent, engender more confidence, and earn more loyalty and respect than do those that lead with solely with bravado.
If what you’re seeking is lasting relationships, long-term success and quality of life in and out of the workplace then you will be better served to forego the pompous acts of the arrogant for the humility and quiet confidence displayed by true leaders.
Mike Myatt is the Chief Strategy Officer at N2growth. N2growth is a leading venture growth consultancy providing a unique array of professional services to high growth companies on a venture based business model. The rare combination of branding and corporate identity services, capital formation assistance, market research and business intelligence, sales and product engineering, leadership development and talent management, as well as marketing, advertising and public relations services make N2growth the industry leader in strategic growth consulting.
