Self-Deception

Dr. Feinberg stressed in class on Monday, how we are all very self-deceptive. He told us about how we rarely ever have people in our lives that will straight up tell us, that we suck at something. We surround ourselves with people who "boost" us up. They tell us something looks good, even though it doesn't or continuously tell us that we are good at something we are not. So, as we grow up we think we are "God's gift to the green Earth," so we think... It will not be until later in life, usually college, that we get the rude awakening. Then, we feel like our life is in shambles. How does this affect leadership? In leadership, if you have a leader who thinks that they are perfect, and the best leader there is, most likely your group will fail. No one is perfect and for a leader to think such a think is ridiculous.
A good leader will be able to realize that they have their flaws and are not good at everything. A good leader will also know how to tell others when they are not good in an area and how they can improve themselves.
Today, I feel that so many people are guilty of self-deception, including myself. Everyone is guilty of it at one time or another. I feel that it can be alright to be self-deceptive at times, but knowing where you struggle is an important part of bettering your life and becoming a better leader.
We need people in our lives to knock us back down to reality every once in a while. As much as it would hurt to hear something you once thought was true, it can be very humbling and allow for us to make differences in our lives. We need these type of people, who will tell us the outright truth.
Another point Dr. Feinberg made in class was that job recruiters make the assumption that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. I agree and disagree with this assumption. In a way it is correct. Some people who behaved one way previously, mainly badly, do not learn from their mistakes and will continuously repeat them. On the other hand, people who behave in a good way, will usually repeat the same behavior because they recognize it as being the proper behavior.
The reason I disagree with that assumption is that people change and learn from their behaviors. I can personally relate to the fact that people change. I know I have. I have behaved in ways in the past that I can say I am not proud of, but I learned from those inappropriate behaviors and know how behave in certain situation. I learned from my mistakes. I know that my past behaviors will not predict my future behavior. It is hard getting past the things that you once had done. I know my friends always remind me of the things I use to do. In all honesty, it really drives me crazy that they bring it up. Even though I have never engaged in such behavior since, they feel that I am still that person, no matter what I do. We all have behaved inappropriately at one time or another, however, the people who learn from that, are the ones that succeed in life. I also believe that the people who learn from their mistakes are more likely to perform better in the workplace because they know how to learn from their wrongs.
Maybe I'm just biased on that subject, I don't know, but people always deserve a second chance to prove themselves.