Arrogant or Confident?

Let's have a quick chat about Arrogance...

It seems that everywhere I turn I run into arrogant people. Worse yet, I run into people who mistake arrogance for confidence and thus perpetuate the culture of arrogance. Don't make this mistake yourself. They are different things, and arrogance is a very corrosive behavior, and one that is exhibited not by the strong and competent, but by the weak and incompetent.

Arrogance seeks to prove where confidence seeks to understand

The difference is easy to see once you really think about it, it is one of intent and origin. Arrogance is a behavior exhibited by the insecure and its purpose is to prove that the person is more competent than they really are. A confident person has no need to prove their competence, in-fact; a confident person will more often focus on learning than proving.

So with this in mind, the next time you are faced with someone and want to determine confidence from arrogance. Pay attention to which way the dialog flows. Are they engaging you and asking questions to help increase their understanding, or are they telling you with disregard for what you think.