I saw last week's edition of The Apprentice last night and watching that arrogant worm Paul wriggle as his poor leadership and decision making finally found him out got me thinking.How can some people be so confident and even arrogant when they are so clearly inept. Sayed last year, Paul this - and we all work with a few people who's opinion outweighs their ability.If I get something wrong I tend to admit and learn, not dismiss. How do these people not feel that this is the course of action?

No need to watch telly, you just have to walk around the city: if there were as many competent people as snubs wearing stupid cufflinks, the economy would be safe.

A third post?? I should really shut up...

Alan Sugar/ Amstrad........I'm dumbfounded by the people who actually go on the show, why? OK £100K salary, but Amstrad and Alan Sugar ,who's main business is manufacturing boxes for Sky TV! These people have clearly failed elsewhere and are looking for a relatively easy way to get on 100k a year but how easy is it to sell your soul to reality TV. I feel being a twat can be confused with arrogance.

I blame the parents and our education system, which pumps kids full of self-confidence and an inflated view of their own abilities.

Couldn't agree more SVP, I believe that these parents that give their children an unrealistic view of their own abilities borders on child abuse! Yes, encourage your kids, but don't make them so full of themselves that they cannot see anything but their overvalued feeling of selfworth.Not just in work, but if you have ever caught glimpse of shows such as the x-factor, where kids go in thinking they are talented but prove tone deaf and the parents still keep pumping them full of denial!Just building them up for a fall, and thats cruel!

I think a lot of the time people feel (esp. in the finance sector) that they have to portray this facade of arrogance/self-confidence as a front. Its (apparently) the only way to get forward in the industry by being noticed (for good/bad reasons) as all the wallflowers tend to get left behind. But in reality, these empty vessels are probably more insecure than the quieter one's.We also have to remember that arrogance is a very relative term. Yes there are complete pr*cks out there who are so up their arses its funny. But in the main I believe there is a time and place where one needs to be assertive, whether this is viewed by others as arrogance is purely subjective.Maybe the debate should also be whether people should have to put on this 'cocky' front at work too to progress...

Hear hear on the subjective call. Too many people make the mistake of confusing self belief with arrogance. Confidence based on your own perception that you can perform is not arrogance; misplaced belief that you are superior to others with nothing to base such a judgement on other than simply "being you"is.As for being cocky to get on in the industry - of course, who's going to listen to someone that doesn't show confidence in their opinions? This does however only show half the picture. Confidence without content or genuine self belief takes us back to Paul the Apprentice worm - you'll get found out in the end...!Just a little namby pamby human performance pov there... :-)