8 Tips to Avoid Being Thrown Under the Bus for Hubris
Why would anyone display excessive pride? I’m always amazed when knowledge workers display hubris. It doesn’t matter if the worker is on the front line, in middle management, or at the C-level. I’m always appalled. Displaying hubris will eventually be a job killer. Aren’t arrogant people self-aware enough to realize that hubris eventually leads to a downfall, similar to a tragic hero in a Greek drama? Don’t they know they will be thrown under the bus eventually?
Do I Sound Annoyed?
Why am I ranting? Because workers, who display hubris, often don’t work well or effectively with others. Hubris hinders career management, as they alienate themselves, often drinking their own Kool-Aid on how fabulous they are. They fail to hold themselves accountable, often blaming others for their lack of performance. I’m actually thinking of a real case, where a sales person consistently failed to meet their quota, didn’t think there was a problem with that, and had the nerve to blame others in the organization on why they lost a deal. Net result? During his passive-aggressive blame game, the sales rep still hadn’t closed any sales.
What Happened?
Was this sales rep managed? Yes, by an equally prideful line manager, who didn’t think anything was wrong. This manager’s sales team was under-performing on his watch. I kept thinking, “Dudes, you both in sales! You have departmental sales quotas that support company revenue goals. If you don’t hit sales targets, is there even a business model anymore? In my example, there wouldn’t be a business model if the offering wasn’t monetized. Why not turn off the lights and everyone can go home.”
How to Not Get Thrown Under the Bus
In this instance, a consistent failure to meet sales targets meant that the C-levels were forced to throw these two sales team members under the bus in a key meeting with the CEO. Citing poor sales results and bad attitude, the C-levels recommended a course of action that did not include these two under performers. Clearly, the sales manager and sales rep were no longer assets, but liabilities who contributed to the company’s failure to reach strategic objectives. Did these prideful workers deserve it? Yes, because both parties failed to:
- Develop relationships with other departments over time
- Maintain the customers experience because they sold something and now it had to get implemented, causing a poor customer experience
- Understand what they were selling or what other departments did
- Sell what they didn’t understand so they sold lowest value offering
- Meet their sales quota
- Demonstrate humility in their overall work style
- Hold themselves accountability for their lack of performance
- Don’t be arrogant. Don’t show hubris.
Be the Bus, Don’t Be Thrown Under It
As you can see, I have little tolerance for workers with hubris. My point? Don’t ever be at risk of being thrown under the bus by being self-aware enough to realize when you’re on the verge of hubris, then stop it. Always build friendly and effective relationships with peers, other departments, and higher ups. Be an asset, not a liability. If you’re failing to perform and still strutting around, then stop strutting! Get back to your desk, put your head down, and start fixing the problem. There’s nothing worse than getting thrown under when you totally deserve it. Okay, I feel better now. Rant’s over.
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