In the "War for Talent" high potential leaders are in great demand. The problem is when a talented leader believes that the road to success is paved by his/her capability alone. Enlightened leaders have a more collaborative mind-set.
Companies and law firms have referred a number of very talented leaders to me for executive coaching because the person is perceived as being arrogant or condescending. I'm frequently asked if someone like this can change or is it ingrained in their personality. Fortunately, most leaders who fit this personality profile can change. Self-awareness is critical coupled with 360-degree feedback from their boss, peers and direct reports.
What are your thought s regarding the pros and cons of someone with a big ego?
Why do leaders cling so tightly to their egos?
There’s a significant difference between “big ego” and big ambition. High-potential professionals usually start out with great ambitions, big ideas and a healthy ego. A certain combination of ambition, talent, ideas and healthy ego drives success. When coupled with good timing and help from others, great things invariably happen.
But there’s a trap inherent in success. When people begin to believe their “own press,” their success creates the illusion that they alone were responsible for workplace accomplishments.
Once people are in the limelight — and the more publicly visible and celebrated they are — the greater the tendency to forget the other factors involved in success. And once they attribute all of their success to their personal talents, their formally healthy ego relaxes and “big ego” takes over. Ego encourages the belief that anything they do in the future will be just as successful, or even more so.
It can be hard to recognize the point where ego becomes “big ego,” as our past successes reinforce the message that we’re the one — the “only” one — who pulled off the job to rave reviews.
“In over two-thirds of comparison cases (average/good companies), we noted the presence of a gargantuan personal ego that contributed to the demise or continued mediocrity of the company.”
—Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t, 2001
There was a recent article in Fortune magazine about Steve Jobs and Apple. Jack Walsh was reported to say that Steve Jobs was probably the most successful CEO today. The innovation at Apple is incredible. The article suggests that some of Steve Jobs personality and behavior could become a problem for the company down the road. What do you think?
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