Brandon W. Jones

Several years ago, I had a leader that was very successful and very smart.  He had done very well in business and was well respected.  Because of his success he was wealthy and had every right to be errogant, but he was not.  He was what I call the confident leader.  As a confident leader, he was very aware of his own strengths and weaknesses.  He also knew what was in his control and what was not.  There is a big difference between the confident leader and the arrogant leader. 

The Arrogant Leader.  The arrogant leader is the leader that told you to do something and then the minute outside criticism occurred, it was suddenly your idea and you got the blame.  Arrogant leaders don’t stand up for their people if there is even a chance it will make them look bad.  They don’t understand that their people are their biggest asset.  The arrogant leaders are always in it for themselves and only have their own interest in mind.  This type of an attitude almost always leads to failure.  Leaders that take this approach lack confidence in themselves and their leadership ability, and they lack the respect of their people.

The Confident Leader.  The confident leader, on the other hand, is confident in what they know and the people that are around them.  They also fully understand that they don’t know everything and they must depend on their people.  This leader has a good relationship with those they lead, so there is an open line of communication.  The confident leader is always informed about what is going on in their department which allows them to trust their people.  While they know their people and their people’s abilities, they also know and understand the weaknesses and limitations of the group.  Confident leaders always do what they can to put their people first and stand up for them.  The confident leader has a lot of trust in their people, but it is not blind trust because it is a trust that is built on honesty and integrity.

What does it mean to you to be the confident leader?  Please comment in the comment section below!