Personal security and arrogance
There are fewer arrogant people in my world today. Why? Because I am increasingly secure professionally and personally. This security results in three tangible outcomes.
#1: The ability to trust and to engage in healthy depersonalized conflict
I believe that personal security (being reasonably secure professionally and personally) is the key to developing trusting relationships in which there is healthy depersonalized conflict.
If people are not reasonably secure, they cannot trust and conflict is dangerous. They don't know how to interpret what you are saying to them. Is it sincere? Sarcastic?
#2: The ability to see others as confident rather than arrogant
But there's another important outcome to personal security. When I am insecure I see a large range of people as arrogant because they possess a confidence I lack and one that I tell myself is unreasonable for others to experience. As I grow secure in who I am, my strengths, and why I am on this planet, I begin to recognize confidence in others, I can now distinguish between confidence (recognizing what one does well and feeling secure in sharing that strength with others) and arrogance (thinking of oneself more highly than one should - having a security that is not sufficiently grounded in reality).
As I grow more secure, I recognize confidence in others. While I continue to view some people as arrogant, that number shrinks and the number of confident people (myself included) grows.
#3: The ability to be strategically weak
Confidence allows me to be strategically weak. To allow others to bless me through the expression of their strengths in my life and to minimize barriers in cross-cultural settings where there may be a presumption of arrogance (remember "the ugly American"?). When I am secure I am free to acknowledge areas of weakness without believing this minimizes my importance or my opportunities to influence others.
Questions to consider / Acting on your personal mission with confidence
Are you reasonably secure? Do you know your strengths and are you investing in their development? Will you allow yourself to be strategically weak? Do you know why you are on this planet and how you contribute to the lives of others?
For me, my personal mission is clear: To free others to be themselves.
What's your personal mission and how confident are you in pursuing it?
At Julian Consulting we help our clients enhance their security by identifying and developing their strengths and then encouraging them to assist others on this journey! Call TODAY to determine how we can serve you in this process.
