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If you ask me to define ego I'd say it's a characteristic in an individual that forces them to consider the 'I' before 'we'. It persuades someone to give importance to his or her own self over others in an attempt to establish supremacy. Each one of us has an ego and from time to time it overpowers us, usually and unfortunately during a sensitive situation in our lives.I wouldn't say that ego should not be there at all because in a way it also triggers the feeling of self-respect in us. However, as I mentioned, when it does overpower us, it could deteriorate relationships and even destroy empires. In the business world, there have been many examples of large corporations biting the dust due to their unflinching ego. On the contrary, we would also find examples of successful firms which continue to rise everyday and one of the reasons behind their rise is that their founders let 'we' take a step ahead and 'I' take a backseat.
So do you think your ego could hurt your business? How can you prevent it from happening? Here are my 5 cents :-)
Listen
When your ego crosses the line and starts talking over you, you slowly start losing your listening ability. You continue to hear but you stop listening. The words of your colleagues and co-workers seem to be harsh, unrealistic, impractical, senseless and like bricks banging your eardrums. You just don't want to listen.
Step back and think for a while. Are you not listening? Are you making decisions in haste? Does everyone else in your organization seem to disagree with you? If the answer to all these questions is yes then your ego has started working for sure. It won't be easy to push it down now. It will try its best to overpower you. But you've got to stop it. And listening is the first step towards it. So start listening.
Analyze
Once you start listening you'll get a clear idea of the point of views on the other side. Even at this point you probably aren't ready to consider them. Why should you? You are the boss and you have been the boss since this business started. You know what you are doing, right ?
I can smell the ego in you. But your nostrils are so jammed you just can't smell it. You won't accept that it's your ego. Well, if it isn't your ego then why not closely analyze the pros and cons of all the suggestions and point of views. Why not do an impartial and detailed analysis of what could be the consequences if you decide on your own or you also consider what others have to say. This could further push your ego down and bring up the real picture.
Realize
If you started a business, does it mean that you know more than every employee of your firm? Does you being the founder guarantee that you can run your firm better than anyone else ? If that would have been the case then Larry Page and Sergey Brin would have never hired Eric Schimdt as their boss after founding Google. But they kept aside their ego and did what was right for the business..and the rest is history.
Hence you have to realize that some people are just better than you and in fact, most of the great companies of the world became great because their founders hired people who were better than them in running the business. Once you realize this fact, you will start respecting the talent of every one of your employees and also pay heed to them when they speak and discuss important matters.
Consult
So you have listened, analyzed and realized but the conflict doesn't seem to end. You just don't seem to be on the same page with your partners or colleagues. You and the people on the other side, both are stern on their stance and not ready to blink.
If you have been running the business successfully and have a strong gut feeling that you are right, then you should go with what you think is right. However, if there is the slightest doubt in your mind then the best way to resolve the issue would be to bring in a third person, someone who is experienced and more knowledgeable then you in your field of work and consult with him.
Decide
No matter what you have been going through and whether or not you've been able to shed the ego, if you are about to take an important business decision then think 5 times before taking it. This could well be the make or break situation for your business and a wrong decision could have everlasting repercussions. So think again.
And while taking the step ahead, if you don't feel comfortable enough and you feel that something is stopping you, something which is not fear but something else which seems to pull you back, then stop...wait and take a step back. You can always go ahead later but once you go ahead, there might not be a way to retrace your steps back.
So a final thought from Deepak Chopra:
“If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue. Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved, and the need to judge. Those are the three things the ego is doing all the time. It's very important to be aware of them every time they come up.”Cheers,
Abhijeet
