There's a difference between being humble and being modest. It's a thin line between the two. However, it's essential to know what you are good at while remaining humble. I recently sat down with Sanjay Poonen, the former President of SAP and former COO of VMware. Sanjay talked about remembering your roots and not thinking too highly of yourself.
It's appropriate to think of yourself as intelligent. That's not being arrogant. However, it's wrong to think of yourself as better than someone else due to your intelligence.
I've made this mistake on both ends of the equation to the detriment of my career. The feedback I received from a job I did get - "Keith, we almost didn't hire you. You came off as not too sharp. It wasn't until we asked you some tough questions did we realize you were sharp. Learn how to blow your own horn."
On the flip side, I've made changes to the agreed-upon changes because I thought my logic was better than the collective team. Even when I was right, it made me a lousy team member and put our day-2 support plans at risk.
What accomplishment or capability are you proud to claim?