Ever seen businesses fold because they got so caught up in growth that they ignored what made them successful in the first place?

Such tragedies are common when egos overtake logic, and being profitable is no longer good enough. In such cases we often find that management ignored profitability and demanded ever-increasing profits, for no other reason than to feed their egos.

Unfortunately, most managers are blind to the effects of their egos.  Fortunately, Carmine Coyote has an excellent post over at the Slow Leadership blog that addresses this topic. 

She lists a few indicators of an ego-driven manager

(and explains them quite well on her post):

You consider being “right” as the most important thing.
You feel the world owes you something.
You often walk around feeling very proud.
You are never a beginner at anything!
You justify and defend absolutely everything.

I’m guessing just about everyone has known a manager like this …. Heck, maybe you ARE a manager like this.

If you are, I highly recommend reading her post, and after that—STOP.

I mean it – STOP, and take a few minutes to examine the negative consequences of an over-active ego.  Not stopping is major reason people don’t see the dark side of what their actions might be doing to their company. 

If it helps to set a time limit, make it a five minute exercise out of which you decide on at least two things to do that will check the ego and lead to something different . . . . something that helps your organization be more solid and resilient.

It’s one thing to strive for excellence.  It’s another to go overboard and ignore what’s required for sustained excellence.

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Filed in Work, Business, Motivation, Management, Leadership, Teambuilding, Workplace, Corporate Culture