Five Practices To Keep Your Ego in Check!

I wanted to share this insight I learned a while ago about keeping our egos in check.  The ego is defined as the I or Self of a person, a person as thinking, feeling, and willing.  It is one’s ability to distinguish oneself from others and the objects of one’s thoughts.   The “you” and your ability to keep the “you” in check are critical to how you lead others.  So how do you ensure that the “you” doesn’t turn others off, try applying these five practices to keep your ego in check:

Be respectful, be polite to others even when they are not so polite to you; a servant leader serves despite the difficulties/challenges others bring to the table. 

Be teachable, open to learning from others, you do not know it all even if you think you do. 😊  Read, read, read…There are a lot of great leadership materials that you can read and learn from. 

Listen more, talk less, I make a conscious effort to let others talk and listen to their point of view rather than always interjecting my perspective.  It is not a competition but rather a collaboration towards achieving the best results. Perhaps a challenging approach, but it is doable. 

Appreciate others for who they are if you appreciate each person for who they are, they will be more inclined to appreciate who you are.  Give credit to others for the goals that are achieved versus taking the credit.  Make it about the “We” instead of the “me”.

Relax, particularly when you feel yourself being triggered- take deep breaths and remember you control your emotions, not others.  Even the worst circumstances require that we maintain emotional control to respond intelligently.