One thing about delivering sales leadership programmes, there’s never any shortage of current leadership case studies to draw upon when sharing examples during a training session. As UK and world leaders grapple with the big issues of the day, I’m fascinated (there are other words!) by the varying leadership ‘styles’ on display.
Sad to say there appears to be an ongoing supply of leadership ‘oversights’ to explore – which is astonishing given how high the stakes are in some of these scenarios!
Again this week, albeit not specifically set in a sales environment, more leadership case studies arrive on cue. There are lots of leadership perspectives I could explore, but one significant aspect that’s attracting my attention right now is that of ego – so it’s worth focussing in on how ego influences a leader’s performance…and success!
Sorry to break it to you but your title means nothing.
In the cut and thrust of a sales and leadership environment it’s more about your actions, or non-actions, what you do every day, rather than who you are. Your team will notice every action you take, or don’t take, and how you behave in every interaction they observe. It’s your actions and behaviour in those scenarios which say more about you than what’s on your business card could ever do.
In our experience of helping companies develop better leaders, the ability to let go of egos is a must. In fact, not letting go of an ego is easily the biggest barrier to a sales leader, or any leader, becoming successful.
Of course, we all have an ego. I’d even say we all like to think we are amazing at what we do. Let’s face it, you’re a leader now because you’ve impressed and shown promise in other roles. That’s great, but don’t let that ego get in the way of developing a great team. If you think you’re better than them, if you think everything you say is right, if you think ‘what I say goes’, if you think ‘don’t do as I do, do as I say’ (remind you of anyone?), then that’s ego – and, sooner or later, it will trip you up.
You’ll lose the respect of your team. It will stop them going the extra mile. It will stop them playing full on and showing up 100% for you, because they won’t think you’re showing up at 100% for them.
Ask yourself…are you controlling your ego, or is your ego in charge of you?
Managing your ego and becoming a better leader
The good news is there’s no shortage of things you can do to manage your ego and be a better leader. Here are some thoughts…
Decide where you are – honestly appraise your ego. Having read this far, are there any realities you need to face?
Compare yourself to you only – never to others, they are on a different journey. Only compare yourself to a previous version of you!
Acknowledge you won’t have all the answers – Build strong relationships with your team and make better decisions – rather than going it alone and potentially making incorrect decisions.
Choose who you work with – these will be smart people with the confidence to speak up – and who won’t feed your ego.
Remind yourself it’s not all about you – there will be a higher purpose. Repeat to yourself often, you’re there to serve others.
Acknowledge you’re still learning – and that you’ll never know everything. You’ll always need the support of others you can trust.
Understand your limits, ask for help – Asking for help and others’ input means you’ll achieve more with that input and motivate others at the same time.
Reflect…and give thanks – Think about those that have helped you at the end of each day…and send them a message thanking them.
That’s a few things to think about when you consider how best to manage your ego.
I’m just pondering which famous leaders might benefit from this 😊
Any thoughts?
Jonathan
PS Remember to take the Sales Mindset Reality Check for your team here
Thank you Kelly Sikkema for this great image 🙂
