Don’t Let Pride Hold You Back

Pride. Some view it as arrogance, while others see it as confidence. Some say it’s a necessary leadership trait, while others believe it’s a characteristic we can all do without.

My question is, “What impact does pride have when it comes to our leadership walk?”

Pride keeps us from being our authentic selves. When we are concerned with projecting or protecting our pride, we put up a barrier between us and others so they can’t get too close or see the real us. Authenticity is one of – if not the – most appealing traits of a leader. Pride prevents us from being authentic, and your team knows when you’re being authentic.

Pride puts others on guard. When we put up barriers, the people around us will too. When they see that we are positioning, shifting, or juggling reality, they’ll sense the lack of safety and feel that they too must protect themselves by taking care not to get too close, be too honest, or reveal too much of themselves.

Pride prevents humility. Perhaps one of the most serious “side effects” of pride is that it keeps us from being humble. Pride and humility can’t co-exist. Humility is the absence of pride. The irony is that humility shows strength, while pride often reveals our fears, insecurities, and weaknesses.

The bottom line is that pride keeps us from achieving what we want to achieve. It distracts us. It decreases our impact. It increases our paranoia and feeds our ego. We all struggle with it on some level, so what can we do to keep our pride in check? Here are 15 actions to
live out.

1. Serve, serve, serve. Serve beyond and beneath your position.
2. Recognize and compliment generously and authentically. Make it about others.
3. Ask questions.
4. Don’t define yours or others’ value/worth/importance by possessions.
5. Say I’m sorry.
6. Be transparent in how you present yourself.
7. Be honest about the reality of the situation.
8. Learn from your mistakes and share that knowledge.
9. Don’t allow your title to define you or what you do.
10. Be willing to go first, trust first, ask for help first.
11. Seek to learn more about others instead of talking about yourself.
12. Be who you are regardless of who you’re with.
13. Seek to learn from others – even if you don’t like them. Try to understand their point of view.
14. Be positive.
15. Admit when you’re wrong.