Is Confucius' small man concerned with other people's inferiority, rather than his own superiority? Book XV 21 says
The Master said, "What The Gentleman seeks, he seeks within himself; what the small man seeks, he seeks in others".
24 recommends 'shu', "using oneself as a measure in gauging the wishes of others", perhaps as a means to becoming a Gentleman. It seems to me, this will start out as disapproval of others, and, if we don't impose that on others, it will become self concern that we don't make the same mistakes. But that piece of advice could be ironized.