“As a leader, be careful not to let your ego guide your motivation, it may serve you, but it may not serve your team.” – Nicki Anderson

There’s ego and then there’s EGO!  I believe that a healthy ego can serve us in positive ways such as:

Contributing to confidence without crossing over into arrogance. Confidence is necessary for making big decisions.

Boundary Setting

Boundary setting is a key benefit of a healthy ego. Boundaries are not only clear for self, but other people’s boundaries are also respected. Makes for a much better culture.

Healthy Ego

A healthy ego can empathize with others, to appreciate other feelings and perspectives while not losing sight of their own. People tend to feel heard and seen.

A healthy ego provides the strength needed to bounce back from a setback. Crucial for the natural setbacks that happen in life and business.

If you’ve ever worked for someone with an overblown ego, it’s not fun. Some of the damaging behaviors include:

• An unhealthy ego can manifest as arrogance or an inflated sense of self-importance. Makes meetings difficult.
• Those with an overinflated ego don’t like feedback and often blame others for mistakes.
• They tend to be defensive when there are setbacks or critiques made.
• An unhealthy ego operates with “me first” most of the time.

Unattended ego does little to contribute to a healthy culture. Team members feel undervalued and underappreciated because they are.

Oh, the times my boundaries were invaded simply because another person’s ego had no respect for them! Now I understand it’s because they had no boundaries of their own.

Here’s to Leading with Love!

Love,
Nicki