In a village long ago, there lived a young boy who loved nothing as much as competing in athletic contests. Because he was fit and strong, he usually triumphed and grew to love the adulation he received from the villagers around him.

One day, he challenged two other youths to a race from one end of town to the other. The villagers all lined up to watch. The boy won, and the townspeople cheered wildly.

“Another race!” the boy demanded, greedy for more praise. “Who else will race me?”

Two more young men stepped up, and again the boy won handily. He laughed in pride as the villagers cheered -- though they were a little less enthusiastic than before.

“Who else wants to race me?” the boy said. “Come on, are you all afraid?”

An elderly woman was watching the races, and she grew annoyed at the boy’s arrogance. So, she prodded two elderly men to challenge him. They could barely make their way to the starting line, but they seemed willing to compete.

“What’s this?” The boy was puzzled. How could he win the applause he craved by beating two old men who could hardly stagger two steps?

The old woman walked up and whispered in his ear: “Do you want applause for this race?”

“Of course,” said the boy.

“Finish together,” the woman said. “Just finish together.”

The boy did as he was told and received the loudest applause of his life when the three of them reached the finish line, side by side.

That boy learned a valuable lesson that day. No one likes arrogance. Have you ever worked with someone who is arrogant? It’s not a pleasant experience.

Of all the human failings that can destroy a person or a business, arrogance is the deadliest. It is the most readily acquired, the easiest to justify and the hardest to recognize in ourselves. Arrogance can infect all employees in a company with the silent destructiveness of a computer virus.

Herb Kelleher, the now retired head of Southwest Airlines, understood that arrogance is the greatest danger to a successful company. He said, “A company is never more vulnerable to complacency than when it’s at the height of its success.”

In 1993, Kelleher began his annual letter to all employees by describing the major threat to Southwest Airlines at the time in these words: “The number one threat is us!” He went on to say, “We must not let success breed complacency; cockiness; greediness; laziness; indifference; preoccupation with nonessentials; bureaucracy; hierarchy; quarrelsomeness; or obliviousness to threats posed by the outside world.”

There is nothing at all wrong with being proud of your company and the work you do. In fact, if you don’t take pride in your work, you are probably not doing the best job you can do. But pride is not arrogance.

Arrogance is defined as engaging in behaviors intended to exaggerate a person’s sense of superiority by disparaging others. It’s not the same as narcissism, which is self-admiration. Nor is arrogance the same as being confident, which I consider a positive trait.

Unfortunately, many leaders today confuse confidence with arrogance. Confidence in one’s ability is a critical element in the willingness to take risks while still steering the ship. Arrogance takes risks by assuming everyone will get on board even when the boat has a hole in it.

According to an article in The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist newsletter, arrogant people "inflate their self-importance and see themselves as better than others, purport to be more knowledgeable than others, consider their own behavior acceptable, make others feel inferior, avoid blame and pin blame on others, discount feedback, don’t perform their job well and are less likely to help others."

I would add to that list that arrogant people are name droppers, avoid eye contact, frequently interrupt conversations, seem to have an opinion or an answer for everything and aren’t afraid to blast their competitors.

If you recognize yourself doing any of these offensive acts, check your behavior. It’s nearly impossible to be a team player if you think you are better than everyone around you. Before long, you will be looking for a new team. You’d better hope your reputation doesn’t precede you.

As Elvis Presley said, “If you let your head get too big, it’ll break your neck.”

Mackay’s Moral: Don’t let arrogance get in the way of “finishing together.”

A third-grader had to do a book report, and he chose a Socrates biography. His report consisted of three succinct sentences:

1. Socrates was a philosopher.

2. He talked a lot.

3. They killed him.

Not much more to say about brevity. Maybe that’s why President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.”

This is a good explanation for why people are so long-winded. It’s easier. You don’t need to think and prepare as much. Just let it roll.

Maybe that’s why William Shakespeare wrote, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

One thing I know is that brevity is powerful. People who can speak or write concisely and to the point are more successful.

The late comedian George Burns was right on the money when he quipped, “The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible.”

I have a little different take on preparation. The nature of my public speaking engagements usually requires me to orate for longer periods. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need to be completely ready and well-researched to keep my points brief and interesting.

If I have to make a 60-minute speech on a new subject, I figure it will take 60 hours of preparation. It boils down to about an hour of preparation for every minute, if you want your message to be good. You never want your audience to wonder if you will ever stop talking. You want to leave them wanting more -- more fabulous content, not just more words.

Are you one of those people for whom conveying information can sometimes turn into the unraveling of a saga? Here are some tips adapted from the now-defunct iVillage.com on how to keep your conversations short and sweet when necessary.

-- Don’t get bogged down with irrelevant details. Get to the meat of the information as directly as possible. “I talked with Jim Thursday, or was it Wednesday? No, I think it was Thursday.” Does anyone really care? Get to the point.

-- Don’t repeat information. Unless the person with whom you’re talking indicates that he or she didn’t hear what you said, say things only once. I can’t tell you how many times I hear the same message repeated over and over with different words. Don’t rehash old news.

-- Take a writing class. A good writing class can teach you to make your points using the fewest words possible. The training can also benefit your spoken communications.

-- Eliminate non-word fillers. I am very aware (and annoyed) when people use too many “ums,” “likes” and “you knows.” It’s better to pause briefly and say nothing.

-- Bring up information that is relevant to most of the group. Save any questions specific to you or any specialized conversations for later discussion.

Here’s a grand example of when short is sweet. One of the most memorable Academy Award acceptance speeches was delivered by Patty Duke, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Miracle Worker.” She uttered just two words: Thank you.

If all the winners were so succinct, the entire program would last about an hour instead of three or four.

Here's a funny story to wrap things up. The lesson in writing for newspapers is always “Be brief!” However, a certain beginner in journalism picked up what seemed to him to be a big story. He hurried to text his editor what he had uncovered.

The editor responded promptly, “Go ahead and write 600 words.”

The enthusiastic young reporter was depressed and fired back a text, “Story can’t be told in less than 1,200 words.”

The editor’s reply said, “Story of world’s creation was told in 600 words. Try it.”

Mackay’s Moral: Short speeches often deliver big messages.

Whether you run your own business or work for a company in a sales-related role, you’re always looking for sales techniques that work. I’ve developed and learned many over the years from readers providing great advice.

One person advised me to ask "yes or yes" questions. He worked for Hyatt Hotels and asked himself, “What else can I do for Hyatt?” Then it hit him: “Increase the average check price.”

He said: “Restaurants are always looking to grow the average amount of money their diners spend. Usually, they do this by pushing wine and other alcoholic beverages and dessert. But those weren’t options for a place that served so much breakfast. I was going to have to be more creative.

“The impressive fresh-squeezed orange juice maker we had ... gave me an idea. I had just learned about the 'yes or yes' theory at a sales seminar. I put a big display of oranges outside the entrance to the restaurant, and while guests were lined up to get in, I had a waitress ask each customer if they would like coffee or juice. Little room for a 'no' in that question.

“As it happened, most people said, ‘Both.’ Pretty soon, the coffee or juice proposition became standard operating practice at all Hyatt coffee shops -- along with the welcoming display of fresh oranges. Never ask a person a yes or no question when it could be yes or yes instead.”

My good friend Brandon Steiner, founder and owner of one of the largest memorabilia dealers in the country, Steiner Sports, has another good suggestion. And I might add, one that I’ve used quite often.

Say you’re having a tough time getting a meeting with someone -- a potential client, investor or mentor. You try everything: persistent calls, emails, tweets, carrier pigeon. But nothing works.

This happened to Brandon a couple of years ago when he was trying to get a meeting with a bigwig at a bank in Midtown Manhattan. He figured since his target was a New Yorker, he might be a Yankees fan, so he called Mr. Big’s assistant. Before she could pass him to voicemail for the umpteenth time, Brandon learned that his quarry was a huge admirer of Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera. With that news, Brandon saw the light. He immediately sent Mr. Big an empty baseball case with a note attached.

It read: “I heard you love Mariano Rivera. Here’s a case for a Mariano-signed baseball. When you and I meet within the next two weeks, I’ll bring you the ball.”

Wouldn’t you know it? Mr. Big called Brandon that day, and they met the next week.

A florist celebrating its 100th year in business explained its success as staying in touch with customers. The owner “has one employee responsible for sending out reminders of who-sent-what-to-whom last year at a particular time, and many repeat orders are generated by this simple call.”

I am inspired by Elbert Hubbard, a very successful soap salesperson who retired to become a writer and publisher in 1894 in his late 30s. He lived by this credo:

“I believe in myself. I believe in the goods I sell. I believe in the firm for whom I work. I believe in my colleagues and helpers. I believe in American business methods. I believe in producers, creators, manufacturers, distributors, and in all industrial workers of the world who have a job and hold it down. I believe that truth is an asset. I believe in good cheer and good health, and I recognize the fact that the first requisite in success is not to achieve the dollar or to confer a benefit, but that the reward will come automatically and usually as a matter of course. I believe in sunshine, fresh air, spinach, applesauce, laughter, buttermilk, babies and chiffon, always remembering that the greatest word in the English language is 'sufficiency.' I believe that when I make a sale, I make a friend. And I believe that when I part with a person, I must do it in such a way that when they see me again, they will be glad and so will I. I believe in the hands that work, in the brains that think and in the hearts that love.”

Mackay’s Moral: Don’t just make a sale, make a friend.