Confidence vs. Arrogance

Confidence vs. Arrogance. There is an infinitely fine line between having confidence and begin arrogant. I think many leaders struggle with knowing the difference between the two. As a matter of fact, I posted an article yesterday from my friend Brian Dodd titled, “9 Things Every Young Leader Must Have To Be Successful”. It is based on an interview with Jon Gruden talking about the quarterbacks entering the 2014 NFL Draft.

Number 6 on the list is “Confidence”. Gruden says, “I want confidence. I want that to ooze out of my quarterback”. After posting the article, I had some great conversation on twitter about determining the difference between confidence and arrogance. Here is my list for distinguishing between confidence and arrogance.

Confidence	Arrogance
Result of hard work and preparation	Result of thinking you’re superior to everyone else
Attracts	Repels
Self-assurance	Self-importance
Inward attitude	All about outward appearance
Listens	Brags
Thrives when others succeed	Is threatened when others succeed
Seeks the truth	Thinks their opinions equal truth
Admits when they’re wrong	Never admit their mistakes
Builds others up	Puts others down
Humility	Pride

What would you add to the list?

3 responses to “Confidence vs. Arrogance”

Tom Heagy

April 29, 2014

Confidence: High expectations of self. Leads by example.
Arrogance: High expectations of others. Leads by force.

eric echols

April 29, 2014

Thanks for commenting. That’s so good. When you have high expectations for yourself, you will lead by example. On the other hand, you lead by force when you place unreal expectations on others.

Reply

Artie McCall (@ArtieMcCall)

April 29, 2014

Our faith in Christ gives us confidence with boldness and full access. Eph 3:12 Arrogance is faithless, shows weakness and closes us to to God’s greatness.