By Emily Soccorsy + Justin Foster
To be a leader you need a healthy ego. Leading with your ego will kill your brand.
Discuss.
Not sure what to discuss? We got you.
First off, we need an ego. It keeps us alive and moving. It looks out for us and spurs urgency. This is why the ego makes a great employee but a terrible boss.
Not just the destruction of their own brand or reputation, but the destabilization and potential razing of their business as well. Unfortunately, the more successful (financially, at least) an ego-driven leader is, the less likely they are to change. And the less likely they are to realize their ego is leading.
Because leading with your ego works — brilliantly. And it does for a long time.
[Cases in point: Trump, Musk, Kalanick and probably a dozen or so people you know in real life.]
Here’s what leading with your ego looks like:
Here’s how all that kills your brand …
Soul-based leadership looks very different from this. Soul-based leaders are still achievers; they still have a drive to win. Just not at the expense of their soul, culture and brand.
They have made the conscious choice to get clear on what their mission is in life. They understand what their soul’s imperative in this life is. And they have chosen to allow that to be the true driver of whatever endeavor they find themselves in — business or personal or philanthropic.
Unlike those driven by ego, soul-based leaders are others-minded, not self-centered.
They have the humility to understand it is their team of people who will make their goals real, not just themselves.
They have an insatiable curiosity and healthy skepticism that compels them to doing things differently; to defy conventional wisdom and formulas.
They are not afraid of failure. In fact, most soul-based leaders encourage failure.
Most of all, soul-based leaders see the world differently. They see people and profits. They see possibility and problems. They see the past and the future. They see strategy and tactics.
So we have a challenge for you.
Where do you think you are? Are you an ego-based leader? Or a soul-based one? More specifically, give yourself an honest 1-10 (10 being highest) rating on the above 10 traits.
And if you know Trump, Musk or Kalanick, please send them this post. That would be fun.
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