Pride & Arrogance in Business: Where is the Fine Line?
Have you ever worked with any organisation where someone who always had all the answers for everything, even if they weren’t paying any attention to the questions asked? Have you ever been that person yourself? It’s human nature for success to breed confidence and sometimes PRIDE and sometimes ARROGANCE; however, allowing that pride to veer into arrogance is a extremely dangerous in business. It’s hard to build a team-first culture when key members of the team think they are above the rules and above the rest of the team.
Always remember: “Leader leads and the rest follow”. Slowly and gradually, arrogance penetrates into the team and eventually into the organisation that starts collapsing. Success gives way to complacency. Arrogance is actually having excessive pride over one’s or a particular group’s accomplishment to an extent wherein we believe that our abilities are nothing compared to others and the success would have come sooner if I had done it alone.
Pride and arrogance are two different emotional states which are divided only by a fine line. Here’s how to spot the difference between the two and not to enter the field of arrogance:
1. Confidence vs. Insecurity
People with pride are confident ones. They know what they do. They are usually masters of their professions and they always like to do things perfectly. They don’t want to mess around and they definitely can’t stand time-wasters.
Arrogant people often use their arrogance feel insecure to cover their sloppiness and inability to cope with the task. That’s how they always wear a different face in front of others. Deep inside, they know they are not able to do the thing they are doing. They are full of doubts. It is scientifically proven that arrogant people are prone to shame.
2. Acceptable vs. Unacceptable Language or Tone
People taking pride always talk wisely. They very well know where their pride is coming from so it is natural for them to speak positively and inspiring to others and there are two main reasons for it:
1. They always talk from their own experience.
2. They regularly work on themselves having full control on their thoughts.
Arrogance has its seeds in an inability to control the mind. So if an arrogant person wants to make an impression on others he will most likely use strong language, including swearing which is somewhat unprofessional and unacceptable too.
3. Narcissistic vs. Normal Personalities
A psychological study carried out on children showed that children who were told by their parents that they are better than others developed a strong narcissistic personality. This mainly applies to arrogant people.
While people living with pride have high self-esteem but they lead gentle and fulfilling lives and they still think they are as good as others. They prefer treating other with equality and warmth.
4. Owls vs. Frightened Dogs
When does a dog bite? It bites when fearing someone because it wants to protect itself. And that is the same situation when some people use their arrogance for attacking others especially in the moments of fear of losing something.
Similarly, people with pride have the attitude of owls with their inner peace. They know how to control their emotions so they seem to be always in control of the situation they are in.
5. Hard Workers vs. Opportunists
Studies show that people having pride are achievement-oriented viewing their hard work as the key to their success. They highly rely on themselves whilst always prepared to listen to other people’s advice.
On the other hand, arrogant people view success as pure luck so they stay restless and they are always on the run for the next best opportunity. This may not always help them which may enhance their level of aggression and arrogance.
BottomLine
There is absolutely no harm in taking pride in whatever we do in life. Let’s constantly work on being the best version of ourselves but never cross the line to arrogance by thinking somebody else is any lesser important than us just because s/he might be doing a ‘seemingly’ less important task or having lesser IQ or otherwise.
As long as we give 100% to whatever we do in our lives, we can become the very best men or women taking pride in whatever we do. It’s important to stay vigilant because arrogance does destroy a successful business or teams and above all, us the people from inside out. When one of our team members feel they’re more important than the business itself and their behaviours go unchecked, the whole ethical framework will collapse and suddenly, rest of the team may not be so willing to engage and share their own ideas.
About the Author
Muhammad Sajwani is a C-Level HR, Transformation Leader, Board Advisor, Business Coach & Organisational Consultant working in the capacity of Managing Director, Evolve HR. He is an author, columnist and a contributor who besides writing for other platforms also regularly writes at BizCatalyst 360. He brings along 30+ years of local & international experience. He is a change catalyst specializing in unleashing the human genius through Leadership, Creativity and Change Management. Muhammad has been instrumental in helping organizations come to terms with organizational changes like right-sizing and business process re-engineering. His innovative approach & high personal competence encourages people to not only accept change, but also to excel in it. Muhammad has diverse experience in conducting strategic & management development programs, conferences & events for organizations across sectors.
