Confidence over Arrogance!
September 24, 2024
by Toni Delos Santos
90% Mental
90percentmental.com
“Real humility is when I can treat a minister, a prince, a priest, a waiter and a janitor with the same and equal respect.” – -Jeroninio Almeida
——-
Although John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, and Bjorn Borg will go down in history as some of the greatest men’s professional tennis players of all time, their playing styles and demeaner were all very different. When I hear the name John McEnroe, I immediately get an image of an awesome tennis player that lost his temper when a call didn’t go his way and seemed to have an arrogant attitude. When I hear the name Roger Federer, I also get the image of an awesome tennis player that had a very even temperament and always seemed confident and in control. While McEnroe was always fun to watch, Federer had a much more likeable personality. While you might root for Federer to win, you might also root for McEnroe to lose.
The same holds true for managers and leaders. While different leadership styles work, which person would you work the hardest for? The arrogant leader or the confident leader? I am guessing the answer would be he confident leader. Although confidence and arrogance can share similar qualities, such as, being assertive and speaking your mind, there are many key qualities that separate their level of success. To better understand the differences, lets look at the qualities of each.
Arrogant Leaders
- Often stem from being insecure and they have the need to feel superior.
- They view colleagues as stupid or incompetent.
- They are often closed off to new ideas because they think they know it all.
- They typically over promise and under deliver.
Confident Leaders
- Enjoy new experiences and learning from them.
- Have a good self-esteem.
- Encourage employees to perform their best.
- Assertive and humble.
- Inspire confidence in employees’ abilities.
People that are in a leadership position are in that position because they are smart and have shown the ability to be successful. I wonder how many more matches John McEnroe would have won if he showed more confidence than arrogance. The ability to treat everyone with respect and make them feel valued is a quality that is priceless. The quality of people that you will attract to work with you will result in a company that is innovative and successful.
