Humble with a side of arrogance

humble

/ˈhʌmbl/

verb

not proud or not believing that you are important

arrogant

/ˈarəɡ(ə)nt/

adjective

having or revealing an exagerated sense of one's own importance or abilities.

Do we need both to be successful in business? The risk taking and the self-promotion that comes with a business venture does require a certain level of self-assurance. 

Lack of confidence is something I encounter in business owners and entrepreneurs everyday. Some just need to build it up and have their skills highlighted but others are too busy making sure they seem humble enough that they forget to position themselves in their market. 

If you look at business and political leaders, they  always seem to have a similar base level of ego that at times dips into arrogance but I don’t think it’s always a bad thing. That self-belief is what sells us to people. We need to be comfortable with highlighting our strengths and accomplishments. 

We need to believe we have the skills and expertise to deliver what our customer needs before they can believe we do! I’m not saying we should be arrogant people all the time but I do think marketing ourselves requires pulling our best qualities, skills, qualifications and experience and then emphasising it to our target audience. Of course, we all have moments of self-doubt where imposter syndrome creeps in and I’d say a little bit of that is a good thing too. 

Finding a balance is key, knowing when to push and when to mellow out. Like I said before, if you don’t believe you can provide the best solution to your target audience, they never will!