Monday, June 27, 2011

Poisonous Ego

Amid all of the praise-praise-praise and motivate-motivate-motivate talk, there should be much more attention given to the danger of ego.

So many of the problems of teams and organizations can be traced to that poison. Those who have consumed heavy doses can become so focused on expanding turf and prestige that their real mission is pushed into a closet with the mops and brooms.

Most of us acknowledge that this is a real barrier to progress, but consider one question: When was the last time the subject of ego was directly discussed at a staff meeting?

2 comments:

Dan in Philly said...

Pride is one of the seven deadly sins for a reason: it'll kill you. Pride is the worst of the sins as it prevents you from recognizing any other, and small things are not addressed and thereby become big things.

I'm starting to think all managers should read philosophy instead of management faddish books.

Michael Wade said...

Dan,

I think you are correct. Many execs who read the management flavor of the month would be better advised to delve into some Aristotle.

Michael