It’s one thing to be proud of your successes and promotions; it’s quite another to allow that pride to morph into arrogance. Reflect on your attitudes and actions, and identify whether the following statements are True or False:
- I behave toward my subordinates very differently than I do toward my superiors.
- If forced to choose, I’d rather make myself look good than do what’s best for my team or organization.
- I’ve taken credit for another person’s work.
- It bothers me when others are praised and I’m not.
- I sometimes belittle others’ ideas to make my subordinates look bad in meetings.
- I have no interest in mentoring or coaching my subordinates.
- Constructive feedback—from subordinates or superiors—makes me angry.
- I expect my subordinates to remember their “place.”
If you answered True to any of those statements, you might be an arrogant boss. Aside from irritating your team, arrogance can be detrimental to your organization. Here’s why:
- Arrogant bosses drive away talent. When employees feel devalued or manipulated, they start looking for other options. If you’re lucky they’ll transfer to another department, but more likely they’ll join your competition.
- Your reputation will spread. Whether they stay or leave, employees will talk about their frustrations, which will make qualified job candidates less likely to accept an offer with your organization.
- People will stop sharing ideas. Once they realize that they’re not going to receive credit for them (or that they’ll take full blame if things don’t go swimmingly), your team members will stop sharing their good ideas. Creativity and innovation will stagnate.
- Lowered morale decreases productivity. People who hate their bosses aren’t the best workers. They’re not motivated to go above and beyond expectations, and they take more sick days.
What arrogant behaviors bother you most?
[Image Sources: Cubicle Refugee and Ryan’s LDS Quotes, both via Pinterest]
Filed under: Dos and Don'ts, Leadership, Loyalty, Workplace Personalities Tagged: | arrogance, employee retention, respect, self-improvement, workplace behavior
Love the pictures. It’s really good to have that reminder.
On that theme, I once heard a leadership quote that said “The best leaders are the ones who take less credit than they deserve and take more responsibility than they should.” I might have screwed that up – but it was put into context for giving your employees more credit for doing something great, and take on more responsibility for things when they go wrong instead of blaming it on your team. Great post, Catherine!
Thanks, Devan! I wasn’t familiar with that quote, but I love it–great advice!
[...] the beginning of the month I wrote “The dangers of being an arrogant boss,” and a reader emailed me with an interesting comment. She said that she thought the advice was [...]
[...] the beginning of the month I wrote “The dangers of being an arrogant boss,” and a reader emailed me with an interesting comment. She said that she thought the advice was [...]
[...] the beginning of the month I wrote “The dangers of being an arrogant boss,” and a reader emailed me with an interesting comment. She said that she thought the advice was [...]