Adrie's Blog

Ego

Ego is a word that is used frequently in almost every language - interestingly enough more in combination with men then women. It is often meant in a negative sense, for those with exaggerated sense of self-worth, putting the owner of the ego in question into situations they clearly are not capable of handling.

The word Ego literally means "I" - and that is always what it is centered around. This week's blog stems from an unpleasant encounter this week with a would-be partner, who is hindered in getting a clear perspective on how to BE a partner by his ego. Too bad.
I have seen often that members of a Board of Directors develop a huge ego, almost as soon as they reach that top position. Before that time they were rather subservient and followers, otherwise the chance of them actually getting to the top would have been slim. But once there, they make up for lost time and seem to lose all inhibitions and self-control - they become small Napoleons and act like demi-gods. A good example of these was Cees van der Hoeven, the old CFO at Ahold, who when he was appointed starting falling into this trap and suddenly generated an ambition to make the brand the largest supermarket in the world, as an accolade to himself. And at any cost to the company or her employees... Ego, me, me, and me...

I think such extremely large Egos and greed are partly to blame for the financial crisis we all found ourselves in - money, the more the better, form part of the way someone with such an Ego shows the world what their supposed worth is. Money becomes the way they calculate and compare their own worth against that of others. Bizarre of course, since it had no bearing on actual performance, which was often bad and could be seen by all around them.

But you see that ego can get in the way at every level. Look at the salesman giving away huge discounts..when you look into it, the buyer was a woman he was trying to impress and was hoping to fool into thinking he was more managerial then he really was (or the other way round of course!) . Often in companies, decisions are made by people with over-grown egos, and rarely in favour of the company itself. Entrepreneurs can also suffer from this - there often isn't anyone who dares to stand up to them, or contradict them - particularly when things are going well for the concern. And they start believing that everything they touch, will turn to gold. You often see that people need catastrophes in order to get them to get both feet back on the ground and teach them some humility.

People with an exaggerated ego always have to prove that they know everything, and know it better then you - at all times. It does make these people relatively easy to manage - since they are so sensitive not to get their Ego's crushed, they are easy to steer and manipulate as long as you play to their sense of self-worth. But NEVER leave them alone or allow them to take decisions independently - it will always be done from personal point of view, instead of bearing in mind what is best for "us" or the company.

Too high a self-worth is dangerous as it can lead to situations one cannot handle. Too low a self-esteem hinders decisive action and self-development. Check your own Ego from time to time and allow criticism - even if you don't like it - at least it will prevent you from falling into the Napoleon-trap!