Ego: Nemesis Of The Working Environment
Egotists cause more damage to productive and creative thinking in the workplace than has been properly accounted for. What exactly is the cost of having these toxic workers on your team?
If there is one thing on this earth that effectively kills business deals and interrupts the smooth flow of information in the workplace, that one thing is ego. What does the term ego mean in relation to good business practices? And how do you deal with people who simply refuse to allow others to shine out of ambition, greed or insecurity?
First you have to identify where areas of disagreements or non-performance are appearing. As a rule, by simple observation and some careful prodding, you soon discover that one or two individuals are dominating an entire section. This often occurs during brainstorming sessions or team assigned projects. The egotist will often obstruct the simplest ideas to garner attention, or outtright denigrate any ideas that don't fit in with his/her worldview.
They tend to stifle creativity, using mockery or outtright derision towards minds that don't necessarily fit their pre-concieved notions of linear thinking. Because these egotists possess a certain anal personality, they summarily reject people who are often valuable assets to any company. Usage of phrases such as "Yes but", I suggest you'd better", or "Excuse me, this isn't the proper venue, protocol, or the way things are done here", all are subtle ways of creating a negative and tense environment.
Once you've identified the issue and the person(s) causing them, what needs to be done? Since I don't like summarily throwing assets away, counselling, one on one or through workshops can sometimes be helpful. The use of honest feedback from others, offered in a non-confrontational manner will in some cases, ameliorate the problem. Not allowing the obstructive personality to participate in group or team projects, but utilizing them in less interactive tasks is another. If they have valued skills, any of the above are worth trying.
But the best approach to this is not to hire this type of personality at all. This takes an excellent set of skills in the interviewing process to ferret out the traits signalling a controlling egotist. This depends on what the CEO's mission and philosophy about his management style and goals are. If the CEO makes it crystal clear that his/her corporation is team centric, then that makes the interviewers job that much easier.
Most importantly, the CEO must lead by example, and be a team player himself. If he is open, transparent and highly motivated to seek input from others, the management team will quickly discover that ego has little place in his organization. Generally, a strong open leadership is usually surrounded by a very strong and committed team, that shares the successes and the failures equally as part of the growth of their company.
As a question for discussion- have you encountered this type of personality, and how did you or would YOU deal with it?
First you have to identify where areas of disagreements or non-performance are appearing. As a rule, by simple observation and some careful prodding, you soon discover that one or two individuals are dominating an entire section. This often occurs during brainstorming sessions or team assigned projects. The egotist will often obstruct the simplest ideas to garner attention, or outtright denigrate any ideas that don't fit in with his/her worldview.
They tend to stifle creativity, using mockery or outtright derision towards minds that don't necessarily fit their pre-concieved notions of linear thinking. Because these egotists possess a certain anal personality, they summarily reject people who are often valuable assets to any company. Usage of phrases such as "Yes but", I suggest you'd better", or "Excuse me, this isn't the proper venue, protocol, or the way things are done here", all are subtle ways of creating a negative and tense environment.
Once you've identified the issue and the person(s) causing them, what needs to be done? Since I don't like summarily throwing assets away, counselling, one on one or through workshops can sometimes be helpful. The use of honest feedback from others, offered in a non-confrontational manner will in some cases, ameliorate the problem. Not allowing the obstructive personality to participate in group or team projects, but utilizing them in less interactive tasks is another. If they have valued skills, any of the above are worth trying.
But the best approach to this is not to hire this type of personality at all. This takes an excellent set of skills in the interviewing process to ferret out the traits signalling a controlling egotist. This depends on what the CEO's mission and philosophy about his management style and goals are. If the CEO makes it crystal clear that his/her corporation is team centric, then that makes the interviewers job that much easier.
Most importantly, the CEO must lead by example, and be a team player himself. If he is open, transparent and highly motivated to seek input from others, the management team will quickly discover that ego has little place in his organization. Generally, a strong open leadership is usually surrounded by a very strong and committed team, that shares the successes and the failures equally as part of the growth of their company.
As a question for discussion- have you encountered this type of personality, and how did you or would YOU deal with it?
Leadership Skills
Bennet Simonton;individual leadership coaching of executives and managers, on site or by phone
Bennet Simonton;individual leadership coaching of executives and managers, on site or by phone
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