Recently while discussing the business pressures of an organization with one executive it became obvious that they suffered from to much exposure to an attitude that was blinding. They were experiencing pressure to generate revenues so other parts of the organization would benefit. They were to be the money bag. But that was not the blinding issue.
As we discussed the issue and pressure of being the money bag it became apparent that they lacked a certain amount of business acuity and had become disconnected from their real customers. They succumb to the cultural pressure of an organization and peers that said we are better than everyone else and therefore we know better.
There is nothing wrong with thinking you are the best. It is a matter as to what you do with that believe. In this case the organizational ego was now getting in their way of fulfilling their mandate; generate revenue for the rest of the organization.
What do you do in a situation where your sense of self worth and importance is greater than your customer’s requirements and needs, the business community needs? Where your organization has become disconnected from the reality of the service you provide, the true value of that service and the people who helped you create the success you enjoy. The competition is just waiting and willing to take it away from you at that first sign of your weakness, the organizational ego.
There is a real danger that exists inside the ego driven organization. The market place has an intelligence that evolves rapidly and ego driven organizations can not keep up. Consider focusing your efforts on understanding the market place including the key business impact zones aligned with your customers, competition, community and company needs. To do so you need to engage both positive and negative external stakeholders to force yourself to see things from another perspective. This is not easy to do, especially if you are old school where you keep your cards close to you chest. Today’s savvy business leader knows nothing is a secret any longer. Everything is accessible.
Opening your doors to the world around you may help you realize that there is an intelligence that exists outside the walls of the organization; one where the customers and everyday people know best. This is the intelligence where business experience and aptitude exists in the market and with the people resources that helped build your organization success. Do not under estimate the value of that intelligence.
Somebody may have put you in charge but that does not say you’re qualified to run a business. There are a lot of highly successful business leaders and people in the market place with real implementation experience that overcame insurmountable odds to build highly successful businesses. Learn from them.
The only solution in the ego based organization is to truly divorce yourself from your thinking and open your mind to the outside world. Listen to those that have gone before you and you may discover that everyday people do have something valuable to contribute. Just maybe they are more valuable than you think.
This Weeks Red Question: What are you doing to break the ego driven cycle in your organization?
