The Ego Has Landed…

And gone for a long lunch…

What is ego?

• Latin meaning; ‘self’ or ‘I’

• One of three major parts of the personality

• Operates on the principle to get the demands of our ‘id’ met

• Our ego develops between 2 - 3 years old

• Inflated feeling of pride & superiority

• Formed by past experiences of reality

Why its important?

• Management to leadership changes

• Emergence of the narcissistic society

• Sense of entitlement

• The power of self expression

• Expectations are changing

• Emergence of art in business

“General, I’m ending the Cold War and you’re going to have to find yourself a new enemy.”Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to General Colin Powell

“For the past 28 years everything the American people and I worked so hard to gain no longer matters in an instant.”General Colin Powell

Greatest assetor most expensive

liability?

Costs of ego

• 53% of business people estimate 6 - 15% of annual revenue

• 21% say it ranges from 16 - 20%

• Translates to $1.1 billion to the averageFortune 500

Jerry Pinney

Somewhere along the line…

• We decided that we must get rid of it

• We are what we do

• Essentially part of our personality

• One side aggressive, the other too meek & mild

• Ego is a necessary part of leadership

• Ego protection or ego glorification

Its not over indulgent egos

or tiny egos, its big hearts that inspire the greatness in people at

work!

Warning signs of a bad ego

• Too much comparing and competitiveness

• Defensiveness

• Showing off

• Trying too hard

Marcum & Smith

Other signs

• People thinking me first, company second

• Bad decision making

• Taking it personally when someone disagrees

• Compulsively following a competitors lead

• Comparing external environments to your own

• Disagreeing with an idea because its not yours

Continuums….

Bad Positive

Arrogant to Self confident

Insensitive to Heartfelt

Hard of hearing to Listener

Inflexible to Flexible

Hard to Emotional

Knows it all to Betterment

Status quo to Re shaping

Big ego to Natural ambition

Illusion to Reality

Taming the ego

• Become an observer

• Show our ‘voonerables!’

• Accept constructive criticism

• Let go - control to influence

• Share

• Participate

• Broaden horizons

Impacts in the future

• Locking the ego into a fixed position stifles change and creativity

• No man is an island anymore

• Over imagined egos will not be tolerated in society anymore

• Power has shifted

Developinga balanced ego

• Humility

• Curiosity

• Veracity

Steve Jobs : Apple

Mark Zuckerburg : Facebook

Tony Hayward : BP

Bill Gates : Microsoft

Final points

• Realise our size in proportion to the universe

• Realise we are only who we are because of others

• Everyone is equally important

• Realise the inherent impermanence in all things

• The importance of humour

A good old dose of humility!

Questions…