Ego Is the Enemy is not just a book by marketing expert Ryan Holiday – it’s a truth that applies to almost any organization. For nearly 20 years, I’ve facilitated many credit union strategic planning sessions and worked with hundreds of credit union leaders to help grow their credit unions. What is the most common obstacle to success? Team members with an ego.
It shows up in different ways in different people, but ego is always the enemy to the success of your organization. The team member who chooses status quo over necessary change because it is uncomfortable for them, despite being necessary to the organization’s success and survival. The team member who makes the situation about themselves instead of the team. The team member who, for whatever reason, plays the arsonist and becomes the cancer infecting the entire organization’s culture. The team member who dominates conversations with “blah, blah, blah” because of their fragile confidence. Or the team member who chooses not to delegate because (they feel) no one can do that task as good as they can, so the answer for everything eventually becomes “I don’t have time.”
Ego is the enemy. In your next meeting, listen with intent to see who is contributing and what they are contributing. Then, reflect on this quote from Les McKeown about what he calls the Enterprise Commitment:
“When working in a team or group environment, I will place the interests of the enterprise above my personal interests.”
When we (and your team) can say those words and speak truth while saying them, there is not much you cannot accomplish.
When we remove ego, we’re left with what is real. What replaces ego is humility, yes—but rock-hard humility and confidence. Whereas ego is artificial, this type of confidence can hold weight. Ego is stolen. Confidence is earned. Ego is self-anointed, its swagger is artifice. One is girding yourself, the other gaslighting. It’s the difference between potent and poisonous.
