Harness your Ego-Lean into the Mission
Fred Kofman's newest book, The Meaning Revolution, is a must-read for all leaders! Below is a summary of how Kofman believes ego impacts leadership. Please enjoy this "appetizer."
The ego is the part of the psyche preoccupied with self-worth and status, and most of us rely on personal success to determine our value. Do I look competent, intelligent, attractive, powerful, and in control? Am I respected, admired, liked, appreciated, indeed revered? When the answer is yes, our ego feels pride and peace.
But shame and anxiety surface when personal success falters. Ego-invested leaders blame circumstances or people beyond their control for missed goals. Fear of failure drives these leaders to strive for perfection. As a result, they are frequently oppositional, overly critical, competitive, controlling, demanding, sarcastic, and contemptuous.
A mission-driven leader centers on accomplishing the mission and suppresses her ego's demands.
She sees challenges not as threats to her but to the mission. She will ask:
How do I want to be seen?
What am I communicating to others?
How do my values and behaviors align?
How is this an opportunity for me and others to grow?
How may we take advantage of this occasion?
What is my intention?
What matters more to me than my success?
How am I contributing to others and helping them grow and develop?
Am I connecting authentically with them?
When adversity strikes, these leaders recommit to their values and the mission. They focus on their contribution and the process, not the outcome, and do not need to seek admiration, praise, and obedience.
I hope you'll explore this topic and all the others in Fred's book. I'll be sharing other insights soon.