Most of us can look to an incident or two in our lives and see the influence of ego. What about the time we bought those pants that made our butt look elephantine, rather than facing facts and hitting the gym? Or maybe it was when we chose to go out with a great-looking guy, knowing full well he was a jerk?
Mistakes like that are mostly short lived. We shrug our shoulders and move on without much harm done.
On the other hand, your ego can wreak havoc on your business. Dan Antonelli, who contributes to Rain Today, has observed that mediocre businesses essentially pay tribute to their owners’ ego problems. He quotes David Ogilvy, the advertising genius, who said, “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”
Recently, I had occasion to experience the truth of this observation. Given an opportunity to work on a large and complex response to a government RFP, I asked an expert colleague to join in. On several occasions, she pointed out details I had missed. Because of her, we looked good, and, even better, we really helped a client. And I felt bigger.
Laurel Standley says
I love this post – thanks Susan. I’ve always thought it detrimental for people to squash those they are intimidated by. For example, as a person who couldn’t carry a tune if my life depended on it, what would my world be like if I silenced the songbirds around me.