Leave Your Ego at Home

“The true measure of a man is the degree to which he has managed to subjugate his ego” -Albert Einstein

This statement is both sage guidance and common knowledge. The reason this quote has persisted over the years is because so few of us manage to subjugate our ego well and need reminders of its importance. Generally speaking, when a person thinks they are good at something our ego kicks in and leads to overconfidence bias. The ironic part is that a person might be objectively bad at something and still suffer from overconfidence bias.

Overconfidence bias has many side-effects. Perhaps the three most common side effects are missed learning opportunities, poor decision making, and stagnation and decline. Ego induces people to fight when they should be collaborating. None of us have perfect knowledge and all of us can learn from others. There have been times in my own career where I failed to subjugate my ego and usually this ended with suboptimal outcomes and me relearning this lesson.  

When we are unwilling to receive new information and learn it inevitably leads us to make poor decisions. In these cases, we are usually more focused on resisting instead of winning. There is limited value in getting your way if the consequences prevent your organization from achieving its goals with maximum efficiency.

Finally, when we are unwilling to learn and grow, and then make poor decisions because of that, we suffer stagnation and decline in our abilities. Without learning there can be no growth. Without growth, we begin decline. That’s why believing you’re the best usually leads to declining performance.

As leaders, it is important that we set an example by subjugating our egos. Take the time to coach others when you see the signs, even if a team member is right about something but fails to keep their ego in check. Coaching team members to recognize ego driven decisions helps prevent poor decision making in the future.  When everyone focuses their energy on the team winning, the rest will take care of itself.  

Tips and Techniques

• We all have an ego. We all think we keep it in check. Most of us are wrong.

• Know the signs of overconfidence bias and help your team understand the signs as well.

• Take time to coach team members when you observer overconfidence bias.

• Be open to being wrong. Being wrong means you have the opportunity to learn something new and grow as a professional and a person.  

• When challenged with opposing points of view, use the opportunity to synthesis better ideas.

• Constantly ask if you want something done “your way” or if it is objectively the best way.