Leaders who are in think they are always right can do a great deal of harm in the workplace. Everything thing a leader says is consciously or unconsciously picked up by followers.
I had an executive coaching meeting yesterday with a senior vice president. We talked quite a bit about his lack of confidence. The VP was constantly scanning the CEO's language for signs of approval. Silence was not a good sign. Worse was the possibility of a failure.The CEO rarely admitted making mistakes. Executives were highly unlikely to bring up what went wrong with an initiative.
Look in the mirror. What do you see?
Using five years of research, David Marcum and Steven Smith write about the costs of ego in their book egonomics (Fireside, 2007). When they refer to the “cost of ego,” they’re really talking about several detrimental workplace phenomena:
• Hearing, but not listening
• People thinking “me first, company second”
• Only the “right” people have good ideas
• Pressure to fit in
• Failure to challenge status quo
• Candid discussion saved for outside the meeting
• Failures being buried and never mentioned again
• Silos created and tolerated
• Meetings going longer than necessary
• Fear of making mistakes or admitting them
Companies can be populated with talented, high-IQ people with no shortage of vision, education, experience or good intentions, yet they may still have an undercurrent of out-of-control egos responsible for huge losses in productivity and profits.
Does the above describe anyone at your company or law firm?
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