Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and goal achieving.
Speaker 1: This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host
Speaker 1: Paul fella Aledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode three point forty three. Every leader battles something.
Speaker 2: For some, it's indecision, for others, it's fear of failure.
Speaker 2: But for many, whether they admit it or not, the
Speaker 2: real enemy is ego. Not confidence, not self worth. Ego.
Speaker 2: Ego is that voice in your head that tells you
Speaker 2: you're the smartest person in the room, that your title
Speaker 2: makes you untouchable, that admitting your wrong is weakness, and
Speaker 2: asking for help is beneath you. Ego is the thing
Speaker 2: that makes a leader stop listening. Ego is the thing
Speaker 2: that makes a leader start talking more than they should.
Speaker 2: Ego is the thing that keeps a team from speaking
Speaker 2: up because they know the boss won't hear them anyway.
Speaker 2: And I've seen leaders crash and burn not because they
Speaker 2: weren't talented, but because they were ego driven. Let me
Speaker 2: give you a real world example. A few years ago,
Speaker 2: I worked alongside a department head who believed their vision
Speaker 2: was flawless. They dismissed every suggestion that didn't come from
Speaker 2: their own inner circle. They claimed to want feedback, but
Speaker 2: only if it validated their plan, and eventually the team
Speaker 2: stopped offering ideas. They disengaged, morale, tanked, talent left in
Speaker 2: the department, it stalled out, and when the dust settled,
Speaker 2: the post mortal wasn't about a bad product or a
Speaker 2: flawed strategy. It was about a leader who couldn't get
Speaker 2: out of their own way. That's the cost of ego.
Speaker 2: So how do you know if ego is getting in
Speaker 2: your way? Let me give you five quick warning signs
Speaker 2: to look out for. Number one, you interrupt more than
Speaker 2: you listen. Number two, you always need the final word.
Speaker 2: Number three you treat disagreement as disrespect. Number four you
Speaker 2: think your title means you're above criticism. And number five
Speaker 2: you rarely say the three most important words, I was wrong.
Speaker 2: If any of those hit home, don't get defensive. That's
Speaker 2: your ego talking again. Instead, pause and check in with yourself.
Speaker 2: Great leaders operate from humility, not ego. They know the
Speaker 2: mission is bigger than them. They surround themselves with people
Speaker 2: who challenge their They say, I don't know and they
Speaker 2: mean it. They care more about being effective than being right.
Speaker 2: Think of leaders that you admire, the ones who really
Speaker 2: made an impact, and I'd bet most of them were grounded, accessible,
Speaker 2: open and real. The ones who lead with ego. You
Speaker 2: might remember their name, but not in the way they'd like.
Speaker 2: There's a quote that I love from Ryan Holiday's book
Speaker 2: Ego is the enemy. He writes, impressing people is utterly
Speaker 2: different from being truly impressive. Let that sink in for
Speaker 2: a minute. Ego pushes us to impress people by any
Speaker 2: means necessary. Leaders pull us to be impressive through our actions,
Speaker 2: our values, and how we treat others. So what's the fix?
Speaker 2: Start here? Ask for feedback regularly and mean it. Don't
Speaker 2: just ask your top performers or your loyal team members,
Speaker 2: Ask the quiet ones, Ask the people who might be
Speaker 2: afraid to speak up. Tell them you want the truth,
Speaker 2: and then prove that you can handle it, and then
Speaker 2: share credit like it's your job, because it is your teams.
Speaker 2: Wins are never just about you. The spotlight isn't supposed
Speaker 2: to live on your shoulders. You have to pass that
Speaker 2: around and say I was wrong out loud. The moment
Speaker 2: that a leader admits fault, they gain trust. It shows
Speaker 2: the team that accountability starts at the top and let
Speaker 2: other people shine. You don't have to be the loudest
Speaker 2: or the smartest. You just have to be the most
Speaker 2: secure and remember your why. Leadership is about service, not status.
Speaker 2: Every decision, every conversation, every opportunity, ask yourself, is this
Speaker 2: about the mission or is it about me? Because when
Speaker 2: ego wins, everybody else loses. So here goes the thing.
Speaker 2: If you're serious about being a leader worth following, it
Speaker 2: starts with checking your ego at the door. Confidence yes,
Speaker 2: conviction absolutely, But ego that's the real enemy. And if
Speaker 2: you haven't done so, please check out my website Paulfalloalito
Speaker 2: dot com. I have a section on there called free
Speaker 2: Stuff where I have a ton of free leadership resources
Speaker 2: for you to download, and please if you enjoy the show,
Speaker 2: please share it and give it a five star review
Speaker 2: on whatever podcasting platform you're listening on. This has been
Speaker 2: the seven minute leadership podcast and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fello Alito Podcasts, visit Paulfellowalito dot com.