Arrogance and Incompetence – The Deadly Elixir of Poor Performance

By: ActionCOACH Team

Date: 01 / 11 / 2024

Arrogance and Incompetence – The Deadly Elixir of Poor Performance

The Peter Principle tells us that a person will rise to their level of incompetence. This may be true in all sorts of endeavors. However most individuals when they reach this level will willingly ask for assistance or will be demoted or terminated once it’s shown they cannot do the job.

The challenge for leaders is working with individuals who display a strong enough arrogance level that they can continue to fool managers into believing that they can still effectively do the job. A good example of this might be a Sales Manager who has had a lot of success in the past in other areas, but now they struggle to get even close to what they should be able to achieve. They brag about their past successes and find ways to deflect their failures by blaming “The System” with their current employer or poor quality from the production department. Their solution is almost always to allow them to be in more and more control since they have all the answers. However, their incompetence only deepens the crisis that they have created themselves.

4 Distinct Angles

Let’s look at this problem from 4 distinct angles. Where are your team members in relation to these 4 areas?

High Arrogance and Low Incompetence = An annoying but successful individual. This is the kind of individual who would benefit from some form of interpersonal coaching, but is an asset to the company

Low Arrogance and High Incompetence = A trainable and moldable individual. This individual will be very open to all sorts of training and coaching, but may lack the ability, over time, to truly become a success.

High Arrogance and High Incompetence = A toxic asset to the company and highly destructive in many ways to the overall operation of the business.

Low Arrogance and Low Incompetence = An excellent resource and an ideal individual for your business.

The challenge for the business leader is to recognize the difference between arrogance and confidence. Simply put, confident people have the ability to honestly acknowledge their mistakes, and yet never lose the reality that they are going to win at whatever they do. However, arrogant people will go to great lengths to focus on themselves and ensure that other’s mistakes are the focus of whatever goes wrong.

As a leader, you must find a way to get rid of these high arrogance/ high incompetence individuals at your earliest opportunity, no matter how convincing they may sound. Your business is counting on you to make the hard decisions, so here’s your opportunity.

Reason #1: Different styles and methods of business coaching don't work for everyone

It's important to be honest with yourself and conduct a realistic assessment when it comes to business coaching. Though business coaching can have many benefits, it might not work for everyone.

Every individual brings their own experiences and values to the coaching dynamic, so results will vary. Additionally, some individuals might need more than just a coach. They might also need specialised knowledge or communication strategies specific to their industry or target audience. Below are a few key factors to consider:

Reason #2: There is no clear focus or vision (talk about time dedication here too)

cIt's important to be honest with yourself and conduct a realistic assessment when it comes to business coaching. Though business coaching can have many benefits, it might not work for everyone.

Business coaching is an effective tool for developing a clearer focus and vision for growing your business. A good coach will help you to take a comprehensive look at your strengths, weaknesses, and available resources that can be used to reach those goals. They will also help you draw up action plans with step-by-step instructions to get there.

By providing honest feedback and being patient throughout the process, a business coach can make sure that you’re on the right track. This will enable you to set realistic milestones and tasks.

These tasks may need dedicated time outside of coaching sessions. For example, a coach might help a client develop a marketing strategy or implement new systems for managing employees. However, if the client does not have enough time to devote to these tasks outside of coaching sessions, progress will likely stall.

Both the coach and the client must have enough time available to reflect on past experiences, brainstorm new solutions, and test out different strategies. If either party is rushed or distracted during coaching sessions due to other commitments or obligations, they may struggle to fully engage in this process.

Effective business coaching also requires a commitment to regular meetings and ongoing communication. If either the coach or the client does not have enough time to dedicate to these meetings, progress may be slow or nonexistent.

It's important to recognise that business coaching is an ongoing process that takes time to yield results. While some clients may see improvements after just a few sessions with their coach. Others may need months or even years of consistent effort before they begin seeing real changes in their businesses.

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