In becoming a forensic psychologist, I remember one of the first lawyers I was working with suggested that I needed to pound my chest more in this case. This wasn’t courtroom guerrilla tactics, rather, it was the admonishment that experts need to present an aura of undeniable and self-assured expertise. As a craft person of an opinion, a sense of pride in expertise is necessary. It is the pride that is influenced by both a sense of limitation and the acceptance that we never know everything that we wish. It is this awareness that prevents someone from the puffery that leads to a disaster. Genuine pride is based on accomplishment and the acknowledgment of our limitations as opposed to posturing. Thus, in essence, it is always mixed with a tincture of humility stemming from the recognition of the unfathomable. This type of proffering assists others in fostering mutual understanding on the topic of concern. However, in many cultures, false certainty is the powerful “snake oil” that many will purchase for societal ills. Actors, politicians, and others sell that they are the only one and we are fortunate to have them seeking the part they wish to play. We surrender our reason to their alleged authority. These personae lead to a success that is financially rewarding but false and thus empty. This vain pride inevitably crashes and damages others when the truth inevitably emerges.
On the other hand, also too much humility and self-questioning may lead to another type of internal structural collapse though this does not fall from the same elevated heights as the multi-storied pedestal of one’s own manufacture. This collapse may be seen in the person’s inability to make decisions and the loss of the sense of one’s own value and expertise. It silences the voice as others are seeking to determine what might be said. I have witnessed this type of collapse in the courtroom. This occurs when the arrogance and false pride of opposing counsel rule the day, and those with doubts drown in the wake of posturing. Judges are swept in believing that poser knows the law better than everyone else. Thus, the humble officers of the court sometimes bend and allow the course of a trial to be diverted from the presentation of the necessary facts for a jury.
There is a need for a recipe of self-confidence that includes the proper balance of both pride and humility.
Hopefully, we don’t mistake a person’s self-aggrandizement and arrogance with both wisdom and authority so that the story we are telling is as fact-based as possible when we address hard questions. In the search for value, there is a need for a recipe of self-confidence that includes the proper balance of both pride and humility. Too much self-doubt and questioning result in immobility to act with full commitment and the authority needed for success. The leap of faith is not taken even though the distance to traverse is not far. However, it should be noted that all these ingredients including the measure of both pride and humility do vary by circumstance. These adjustments are based on the topic of consideration and the audience being served. For those of us in media, courts, threat assessment, forensics, law enforcement or medicine, may our work be worthy of rising to the level of being both genuine and helpful. Soon our commitment to integrity will be applied in the next challenge where our expertise is needed.