Taming the Ego of Leaders

Having achieved a degree of success, leaders sometimes begin resting on their laurels instead of growing and pushing ahead.

It’s easy to say, “never become complacent”, but you may not see the initial warning signs of it in your executives until it’s too late.

Some egos require taming. If left unchecked, an executive’s arrogance could do more harm than good to the reputation and long-term clout of a company.

In the disruptive economy, a big ego can be problematic. Leaders sometimes think they are above the law or better than others because the nature of their business requires that regulations be changed, and society adapt at breakneck speeds. Unfortunately, governing entities aren’t always so accommodating, and society isn’t always ready for change.

Let’s look at a couple of the most valued startups and see what they either did right or wrong from a leadership standpoint.

One of Uber’s Biggest Past Failures: Their Executives

Arguably, one of Uber’s biggest past failures was in the executives they chose to run their company.

Undoubtedly, they succeeded in many regards, but the reason they needed the best PR they could afford was because of numerous careless comments made by their executive team.

Their ex CEO Travis Kalanick, for instance, told a group of U.S. mayors that Uber wouldn’t wait for cities to create regulations before they began operations. There was another executive that suggested they spend a million dollars to investigate journalists who wrote negatively about them.

You could rely on your PR team to sugarcoat comments like these after the fact, or you could a) tame the ego of your executives, or b) hire the right people to begin with.

Technology is causing major disruption in many industries. But that’s no reason to overlook regulations or put down journalists who don’t think positively about your business.

One of Dropbox’s Biggest Assets: Leadership

Drew Houston is the CEO and Co-Founder of Dropbox.

There was a time when he loved working alone. It was just “him and the code”.

After reading Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goelman, he recognized that he needed more than just intelligence and a college degree to run a successful company.

Houston began reading more business books and learning how to be an effective CEO in the process. He also volunteered to lead two organizations at college. This gave him a better understanding of project management and delegation.

The lesson is clear – one of the reasons Dropbox is so successful is because of Houston’s willingness to humble himself and dedicate himself to study.

As New Your Times best selling author Neil Patel writes, one should: “Learn how to be a leader by reading books on business leadership, salesmanship and management. Seek out mentors who ran or are running successful businesses. Ask them to help you grow as a leader. Take classes or seminars on management and leadership at a local college.”

A leader who is mindful enough to recognize their deficiencies and dedicate themselves to study is clearly demonstrating qualities of humility.

Benefits of Taming the Egos of Leaders in the Disruptive Economy

Why tame the egos of leaders? Is it worth the trouble? What do you gain in the process?

I’ve learned that it’s important to continually coach your leadership team if you want them to remain humble. A leader can sometimes feel infallible, incapable of making mistakes. But inevitably, that comes from a place of arrogance. Remaining a lifelong learner keeps them humble, and providing that coaching can make a difference.

Secondly, using tools to assess leaders, especially around humility, can help you find the right personnel in the first place, without necessarily having to “tame” your leaders.

Final Thoughts

What do you look for in a leader?

You may look for qualities like dependability, trustworthiness, work ethic, among others.

But wouldn’t it make sense to also look for those who demonstrate qualities of humility? If they’re constantly bragging about their accomplishments and have become arrogant in their work, they could be blindsided by mistakes someone humbler would have caught.

A humble leader is more likely to succeed in the disruptive economy. When you’re looking for someone to fill a leadership role, you should have a way of assessing and continually reinforcing this quality. This will help you prevent your company from running off the rails.

If you’re interested in discussing further, get in touch!

Next time I will discuss how companies could learn from the evolution of football formations especially when operating in the disruptive economy.