Arrogance is a career killer
By Joan Lloyd
Admit it. There are times when you say, “I get
it…how come they don’t?” Or, “I’m
pretty smart—I saw that one coming-- long before everyone
else did.” But when you feel like you’re the smartest
one in the room everyday, that spells trouble for your
career.
Even if you are bright, well educated and get from A to Z
faster than most people, when you start thinking and
believing that you are smarter than everyone else, your arrogance
about your intellect will blind you. It will show up in how you act
and what you say.
Here is how it will hurt you:
You will be so convinced that you are right, you will dismiss
the opinions and suggestions of others. You will cut people off and
push your solution. Even if you end up being right, repeatedly
cutting off your colleagues is disrespectful and says, “I
know best, so don’t even bother telling me what you
think.” Over time, people around you will be quiet.
People will stop telling you what you need to hear because
they’ve learned you don’t listen to them anyway. Some
wounded colleagues might even wish you would fall flat on your
face—especially if you have insulted them by dismissing their
warnings that you were about to walk off a corporate cliff.
Arrogance can sneak up on you in the form of expertise. If you
have been in your field for many years, or you have extensive
training, it’s understandable that you feel competent and
skilled. You do know a lot. Unfortunately, when a less
experienced colleague or employee has a fresh idea, it’s easy
to dismiss it as naïve or flawed. I’ve seen this happen
when a senior executive has moved up the ranks and he is now a
level above the department he used to manage. Times have changed
and he is quick to dismiss new ideas because they don’t fit
with the way he used to do things. He may have been the expert back
then but he has forgotten times change.
In a related scenario, a sought after expert can get so
used to being the one people come to for answers, he stops learning
from others because he thinks he is already good enough. He may not
attend conventions, read the latest books, or take a seminar. And
he certainly won’t ask for advice himself. He has forgotten
that being curious and open to learning is what created his
expertise in the first place.
Arrogance can cause you to blame others for problems, rather
than taking necessary action yourself. Rather than taking ownership
for your own mistakes and behavior, you play the righteous,
superior one, who couldn’t possibly be wrong. Collaboration
goes out the window as conflict and dissention block progress.
Expertise won’t help you as your reputation as a difficult
coworker prevents your experience from being used.
Arrogance can cause burn out because you shut others off from
helping you. You are so busy solving all the problems yourself, you
don’t have time to delegate—and mentoring is out of the
question, because of your double-booked schedule. “It would
take far too long to bring these people up to my level,” you
reason. “I’ll just have to do it myself.”
Meanwhile, talented employees and coworkers stagnate…and
eventually look elsewhere for development and the opportunity to
contribute. Eventually, complaints and exit interviews mount and
senior management have a decision to make…and it’s
usually not in your favor.
