We all struggle with ego—every single one of us. Ego-driven leadership is one of the most toxic elements that can be introduced to a team or organization.
How can you tell if your leadership is ego-driven?
1. Ego-driven leaders often measure their success by how much others notice their success. It becomes more about being the center of attention than it does about actually being successful in and of itself.
2. Ego-driven leaders often feel better about themselves when others around them don’t achieve or earn as much as they do.
3. Ego-driven leaders tend to undermine others so that they can appear to themselves and others to be smarter, better, etc.
4. Ego-driven leaders tend to drive others away over time. It’s incredibly taxing working for an ego-driven leader, because …
5. Ego-driven leaders tend to destroy trust and attempt to control others through whatever means necessary. This is exhausting for those who work with these leaders.
6. Ego-driven leaders are always looking for more praise, always looking for the next spotlight.
7. Status supplants service as the true, underlying motivator of the ego-driven leader.
8. Ego-driven leaders tend to be easily offended, even if their own behavior toward others is far more egregious. They’re quick to call others defensive, and quick to point out what they perceive to be faulty attitudes in others.
9. Ego-driven leaders tend to have a burning desire to be right. Every. Single. Time. Or so it seems to those around them.
10. Ego-driven leaders very rarely admit their faults without somehow rationalizing or blaming others.
So, what do you think? Did I miss any?
