Weekly Nugget: How to Deal with Arrogant People
Hi friend,
Today, we are going to deal with the difficult topic of arrogance. More specifically,
What is arrogance?
Where does it come from?
And how to deal with it?
Arrogance is assigning utmost importance to one’s opinion without concern for what others might consider valuable, reasonable, and important. Arrogance insists on being right and declines the possibility of other’s perspectives. Arrogance is confidence in your preparation without listening to others about what you might be missing.
An arrogant person believes wholeheartedly that their view is the only correct one, and there is no space for an alternative view. Arrogance produces the inability to listen and to work with others. The biggest challenge with arrogant people is the disrespect and toxicity they create in their environments, which leads to resignation and a waste of potential, opportunity, and power.
It is natural to be angry at arrogant people, but anger does not solve anything; it just makes matters worse. If you confront an arrogant person in front of others, you can deepen their rigidity. Group humiliation almost never works. You must approach this with lots of care, concern, and courage.
There is no precise recipe I can give you for dealing with arrogant people. I’ll show you some moves, but when and how you make them depends on your skill, the people, and the situation you are up against.
So, how do you deal with arrogant people?
💥 1. Start by owning your own arrogance.
We all have moments of arrogance. The first move is to look at where you might be acting like a “sure person” without having enough conversations, listening, or preparation. Owning your own arrogance opens up space for others to do the same. It takes you out of the game of defending your identity and into a new game—one where you’re focused on what really matters.
💥 2. Acknowledge the other person’s view and invite them to listen.
When you encounter arrogance, don’t immediately try to prove the person wrong. Instead, acknowledge their view as potentially valid, at least for them. Ask them if they’d be open to seeing another perspective. You can point out that for the sake of shared success, there might be a need for mutual listening. They may not even be aware that they haven’t listened and prepared to deal with the matter as they ought to.
💥 3. Disrupt arrogance when it turns into disrespect.
When arrogance crosses the line into disrespect, you have an obligation to speak up. Sometimes, you’ll have to risk the relationship to call out harmful arrogance. You might say, “For the well-being of this team and our ability to work together, you can’t dismiss other views as if only yours matters. Your opinion is not a self-evident truth—it’s just one perspective.” There’s a risk in saying this, but without that risk, there can be no new future.
Ultimately, respect doesn’t mean agreeing with everything. It means being open to the other person’s viewpoint as potentially valid for them, even if you disagree. Mutual respect is the foundation of all effective work and relationships. Without respect, arrogance will poison the environment. And without disrupting that arrogance, you risk the shared future of the group.
In the end, for the sake of your shared future and everyone’s well-being, say something. Disrupt the arrogance before it takes root and poisons the environment. The workplace (or family) can only thrive when mutual respect and care are at its foundation.
With care,
Saqib