Hi Reader,

Last week, we started a discussion of the Seven Deadly Sins.

You may be inclined to ignore it — oh, by the way, what does any of this have to do with leadership in the first place?

Hopefully, you've recognized that PRIDE, arguably the mother of all sins, is an important criterion by which you will be judged.

As a leader, PRIDE can easily blind you to what's right in front of you:

• I wasn't wrong about that call. You guys just didn't execute it correctly.
• I don't care what the customer said. Our product IS the best and most affordable one on the market.
• His opinion really isn’t that important. He’s not the one in charge!

Sure, you may be able to list many of the Seven Deadly Sins — and likely many more — but how often do you reflect on what effect those natural human traits have on your leadership success?

Arrogance is NOT on the list, for example, but it sure is part and parcel of PRIDE, isn't it?

It’s also a trait mentioned more than most when people comment about others in their organization.

Monsieur Webster suggests that Arrogance is an insulting way of behaving where a person shows overbearing PRIDE as if they are better, smarter or more important than you.

Interestingly, PRIDE is typically identified as a synonym of Arrogance right alongside Vainglory and Vanity which we discussed last week.

If you want to Become a More Effective Leader, you need to be keenly aware of how Arrogance — and those other pesky members of the Seven Deadly Sins — affects the respect you’re trying to earn and the performance you expect from yourself and others.

On Wednesday, we’ll take an extreme reminder of how to overcome the limitations of the human emotions that may be holding us back.