Tweet

Check Your Ego at the Door

Written by: Gaylen Thornton

Article Overview: Managers by the nature of their duties have authority over employees that report to them. How the manager exercises this authority defines them as a manager or leader of people. Leaders control their ego, in most cases, managers do not and it takes a confident person, secure in their abilities to control their ego. Ego, for our purpose of discussion is defined as and elevated inaccurate self-image of importance and using that idea to coerce an employee to complete their command.

Check Your Ego at the Door

Managers by the nature of their duties have authority over employees that report to them. How the manager exercises this authority defines them as a manager or leader of people. Leaders control their ego, in most cases, managers do not and it takes a confident person, secure in their abilities to control their ego. Ego, for our purpose of discussion is defined as and elevated inaccurate self-image of importance and using that idea to coerce an employee to complete their command.

People who manage through their entitled authority, demands, or intimidation seldom raise productivity and add profit to the bottom line. This style lacks the ability to inspire and motivate those employees that are to report to them. Rather than receiving the "expected" respect and praise for their authority those under the managers charge react in the opposite, losing respect for the manager and most believe it is a sign of the managers weakness and lack of trust.

Managers whose ego will not allow them to field or ask for suggestion can often hurt their organization. This story comes from The Executive Speechwriter Newsletter and begins at night with a ship at sea. The captain of the ship saw what looked like the lights of another ship heading directly toward him and so he gave the order to his signalman to blink to the other ship, "Change your course 10 degrees south." Shortly the reply came back, "Change your course 10 degrees north." The ship's captain was none to pleased with the response and send back the response, "I am the captain. Change your course south. To which the reply was: "Well, I'm a seaman first class. Change your course north." This infuriated the captain, so he signaled back: Dammit, I say change your course south. I'm on a battleship!" to which the reply came back: "And I say change your course north. I'm in a lighthouse."

Want to be a leader; check your ego at the door. Someone believed you exhibited leadership talent and ability and this knowledge should help you gain confidence in your abilities and role. Hire the best people, lead them with sincere praise and respect for their position in the organization and they will be motivated, productive and make you look great. Managers who want to be promoted should train their replacement long before they have the opportunity to move up the ladder.

A number of years ago I was fortunate to report to Richard Lindstrom the General Manager of my division at American Optical. Rick gave lavished praise when earned, gave needed constructive criticism, also when earned, and sound counsel to all of his people. He was secure in his beliefs, goals, and direction and inspired all of us in our work because he respected us and it showed in the way he treated every one of us below his management level.

To be a leader, do not be as the battleship captain and his unwilling attitude to accept suggestions from those of a "lesser" rank. Pattern your leadership on the qualities of Rick Lindstrom, open, honest, respectful, and how he checked his ego at the door.

Related Articles
  The Secret of Door to Door Street Marketing
  QuickBooks - How to Properly Void a Check
  QuickBooks - How To Reprint Checks That Jammed In The Printer
  5 Costly Mistakes In Network Marketing and Internet Business MLM Online
  8 Great Tips For Managers - To Manage Your Time Effectively

Article Tags: battleship, bottom line, confident person, ego, executive speechwriter, first class, intimidation, lack of trust, lighthouse, nbsp, productivity, reply, seaman, self image, ship at sea, style text, suggestion, text decoration



Related Forum Posts
Greetings From Destiny's Door - Hi Everyone, Thanks for the invitation to introduce myself. I'm looking forward to being part of the discussions here. I called my business "Destiny’s Door Coaching" because I believe you already have everything it takes to create the business of your dreams. The door to your destiny stands always open. The choice is up to you. I work with Business Women and Entrepreneurs who want to create a life and business that matches their true potential, while still allowing them time to do the things they love most. I support them as they discover how to work smarter and not harder. I coach because I am passionate about seeing women achieve amazing things when they fully accept their own greatness. Business really gives women a great opportunity to express their passions and purpose in a way that also brings financial rewards. I believe you are highly important as the foundation of your business. As you grow and unleash your true potential, you enable your business to do the same. In fact, I'm doing that personally through my own business. I coach women and write articles inviting women to step into greater personal success. As a Certified Life Coach with a Degree in ministry, this is a perfect fit for me. On a personal level, I believe in living fully alive and making the most of every moment. I even have my own Coach! Of course, life is always a work in progress, but I keep moving forward. I do this happily in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of B.C. with my husband and two feline companions. Anyhow, I look forward to meeting you through the forum where we can challenge and inspire each other to really grow towards our full potential. Let’s really commit to creating the businesses of our dreams. I’ll meet you at Destiny’s Door! Warmly, Tami
5 Entrepreneur's success stories - My local paper's business section profiled 5 successful entrepreneurs in the Jan 6, 2008 issue of the paper. Thought I'd share just a bit of it here. Bill and Heidi Dittmar: Executive Lifestyle Jeff Wassmer: Spectrum Deloise Hawkins, Star Whitaker and Lenzy Hill: Touch of Elegance Stephen Brosius: Advanced Door Systems Pam Watson: Goodrich and Watson Insurers Bill and Heidi Dittmar: Executive Lifestyle founders of a magazine called Executive Lifestyle. Started in 1991. Revenue has grown more than 200% since 2004. 4 full time, 3 part time employees "We started off with $1,000 and a stupid idea." It began as This Month, a guide for tourists, and morphed into Executive Lifestyle. Jeff Wassmer: Spectrum Company specializes in computer network security and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance. Wassmer was an 11-year Air Force guy, so he had "ins" in order to form this business. Deloise Hawkins, Star Whitaker and Lenzy Hill: Touch of Elegance Founded business in 1994. 12 employees. Their company designs and plans an average of 25 events each month in Hampton Roads and other parts of Virginia. Stephen Brosius: Advanced Door Systems Started company in 1995. 5 full-time employees, plus subcontractors. After having worked as a subcontractor for others in the construction business for 20 years, he decided to start his own business. Pam Watson: Goodrich and Watson Insurers At age 49, she was approached by an insurance colleague to buy out their employer's insurance division. They did so, and became employers themselves., witj 4 full-time people.
Topics of Interest - There have been some wonderful resources posted in this section. However, I also strongly advise any entreperneur to pick up a few books on personal financial planning; cash flow is key to any business and the best way to start planning good cash flow for your business is to learn some personal financial planning. I have always enjoyed the following: The Millionaire Next Door- Thomas Stanley and William D. Danko Richest Man in Babylon- George S. Clason Rich Dad, Poor Dad- Robert T. Kiyoski and Sharon L. Lichter There are many many more great resources on this topic. These should be read in conjunction with the other resources posted here. Good luck.
Re: How can you distinguish real from fake opportunities? - Check with the internet BBB for starters.
Re: Life on the go! - Hi CMorris, We are glad you're here. We also have a lot of useful information on this forum. Check it out by searching from the main page. If there's something you don't find you can always start a new strand.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

LISTENING SKILLS IN COACHING

Coaching - An Effective Tool for Managers

A Guide to Franchise Financing

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.