Leadership in Teams and the ego

I have been reading the 5 temptations of a CEO by Patrick Lencioni and am see an immediate link with those temptations and the fundamental role of the ego in Leadership, and how this will massively influence the direction of the team they lead!

Considering the first temptation today ”Choosing status over results” Do you know leaders who justify their own performance even though the organisation is failing? Whose actions serve to support their position rather than the goals of the company?

People do try to separate their sense of self esteem being wholy measured by their success in work, for balanced reasons,  however self esteem can be summarised as an “evaluation of self concept” and if they totally divorce themselves from the idea that the leadership results they achieve, have anything to do with  themselves as a leader, and everything to do with  their status and position, they may very quickly find themselves not being personally accountable for results, and entering the blame game!

This temptation may show itself in those people who have a greater concern for their career progress than in the achievement of the current results required. The most successfull team leaders will focus on the current results and let these speak for them when it comes to progression. Have you ever employed someone where you were not interested in their level of success and performance in their immediately previous role??

Finally this temptation could show up in an unhealthy desire for public recognition. We all want to be acknowledged for our work as we progress, but some actively seek the spotlight to serve the ego’s desire for approval. This desire for public recognition, can be a great opportunity to motivate the team and recognise good work across an organisatin, but equally if the leader is suffereing from this first tempation, can be seen as self serving and is often an example of where the “We” becomes “I”

The second temptation – soon.