Self-proclaimed leaders and experts basically signal to me that they stopped bothering to upskill, leveled off, and use their new title as a form of justification or personal flattery.
I think they're trying to compete. A lot in life depends on how people first perceive you and what box they immediately pidgeonhole you into. When one goes to a new company all status and all the perceptions one has built up with people at the old company are lost.
One must make an attempt to be seen as one wants to be and it's not easy to do that without sounding arrogant but being humble doesn't work either.
