The best boss I ever worked for was fond of saying, “Sooner or later, arrogance will kill you.” In my experience, he was right. It might not happen right away, but sooner or later, in the fullness of time, arrogance is an almost certain death sentence for someone’s career.

Many years ago, a friend of mine in the company where I worked slumped into a chair in my office and said he had just been fired. Remarkably, he then said it wasn’t our mutual boss’ fault; it was his own fault. He explained that our boss had repeatedly told him what he needed to do to succeed in his job, but my friend said he “just didn’t do it.”