How Your Ego Might Harm Your Business

CEO-With-Huge-Ego-Standing-Over-Skyscapers-in-City

Ego can be a powerful force, both in business and in life. It can drive us to achieve great things but also trip us up and lead us astray.

In business, ego can manifest itself in several ways. You may be the type of person who always needs to be right or who has to have the last word in every conversation. Maybe you’re resistant to feedback or find it difficult to delegate tasks.

All of these qualities can make it challenging to run a successful business. Before we talk about the impact of ego, let’s define it.

Defining Ego

Defining ego in business terms is tricky. Ego is largely intangible; you can’t point to it or touch it. It’s more a state of mind than anything else. Let’s define ego in business as inflated self-importance.

Individuals with big egos tend to think they’re better than others and act accordingly. They might be quick to anger or slow to forgive slights, real or imagined. And their need for approval can lead them to take risks that are only sometimes in the best interests of the business.

While having some ego is essential for success in business (you need to believe in yourself and your ability to achieve goals), too much ego can be detrimental. Individuals with oversized egos can be difficult to work with and might make poor decisions that put the business at risk.

5 Ways Your Ego is Killing Your Business

All of these qualities can make it difficult to run a successful business. Let’s take a closer look at why that is and what you can do to counterbalance your ego:

Ego Can Make You Resistant To Feedback

If you’re the type of person who always needs to be right, then you’re likely resistant to feedback. This can be a major problem in business, as feedback is essential for learning and improvement.

If you’re unwilling to listen to what others have to say, then you’re missing out on valuable perspectives that could help you improve your business. What’s more, this resistance can come across as arrogance or defensiveness, neither of which are qualities that will endear you to your employees or customers.

Ego Can Make You Miss Out On Opportunities For Learning

If you’re resistant to feedback, then you’re also missing out on opportunities for learning. Feedback is an essential part of learning, as it allows us to identify our mistakes and correct them.

Without feedback, we’re more likely to repeat our mistakes, which can be costly in both time and money. What’s more, learning from our mistakes is essential for personal and professional growth.

Ego Can Make You Difficult To Work With

If you’re the type of person who has to have the last word in every conversation or who always needs to be right, then you’re likely difficult to work with. This can make it difficult to build strong working relationships with your employees or customers.

What’s more, this behavior can come across as domineering or condescending, neither of which are qualities that will endear you to others.

Ego Can Make You Poor At Delegating

If you’re resistant to feedback or always need to be right, then you’re likely poor at delegating. This can be a major problem in business, as delegation is essential for efficiency and growth.

When you delegate tasks, you’re able to focus on the most important aspects of your business while others handle the less important tasks. This allows you to use your time more effectively and grow your business more quickly.

Ego Can hinder Your Personal And Professional Growth

If you’re resistant to feedback or always need to be right, then you’re likely hindering your own personal and professional growth. Feedback is essential for learning and improvement, so if you’re unwilling to listen to it, you’re not allowing yourself to grow.

Moreover, this behavior can stunt your personal and professional development, as you’re not learning from your mistakes or taking the opportunity to improve your skills.

If you find that your ego is causing problems in your business, then there are a few things you can do to counterbalance it. 

First, try to be more open to feedback. It can be difficult to hear criticism, but it’s essential for learning and improvement.

Second, make an effort to learn from your mistakes. We all make them, but it’s important to take the opportunity to learn from them so that we don’t repeat them in the future.

Finally, try to delegate tasks more. This will allow you to focus on the most important aspects of your business and free up your time so that you can grow your business more quickly.

Ego can be a massive problem in business if it’s not kept in check. By learning to counterbalance your ego, you can avoid many of the pitfalls that it can cause.

Balancing Your Ego

Focus on Learning

If you think you have too much of an ego, there are steps you can take to bring it back into balance. One is to focus on learning. When you’re open to learning new things, it can help reduce your ego because you realize that you don’t know everything and that there’s always room for improvement.

Admit Your Mistakes

Another way to bring your ego into check is to admit your mistakes. This can be hard for people with big egos, but it’s important to remember that everyone makes mistakes and that accepting them doesn’t make you weak. On the contrary, being able to admit your mistakes shows the strength of character.

Be Humble

Finally, try to be humble. Humble people tend to be more likable and approachable, which can make it easier to work with them. And being humble doesn’t mean you have to downplay your successes; you can still be proud of your accomplishments while being humble at the same time.

Learning, admitting mistakes, and being humble are all good ways to keep your ego in check. By keeping your ego under control, you can avoid some of the negative consequences that can come with having too much of it.

Contact an Experienced CEO Coach

My name is Glenn Gow, CEO Coach. I love coaching CEOs and want to help make you an even better CEO. Let’s decide if we are a fit for each other. Schedule a time to talk with me at calendly.com/glenngow. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

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