Leaders Need to Have Ego and Know How To Use It

Every leader who has every created great success has a healthy ego. The challenge is knowing when there is too much ego and knowing how to use it to be the most effective leader possible.

Steve Jobs could be described as being an egomaniac in that he saw himself as a creative genius. He valued creativity above all other skills and so he could come across as being egotistical. Did he have too much ego?

In my opinion he didn’t have too much ego when it came to his creative genius because it was true. Where he did have too much ego is how he related to others who didn’t have the same level of creative skill that he had. He was impatient, rude and short tempered with those who couldn’t grasp his ideas and vision. A moderated ego would have had Jobs display more patience and understanding as well as appreciation of other peoples skills rather than disdain for lack of creative skill.

What about Oprah? Does she have too much ego? I see Oprah as having high ego around her areas of strengths of vision, global picture and knowing what people or the collective wants to watch and hear. Where Oprah has admittedly had too much ego is when she has assumed future success based on past behaviors. In a recent interview Oprah stated that the last few years of running her OWN network she has been humbled by the reality that she needed two key members of her previous Oprah show team and that they were a key component of her success. Since hiring them she has seen the ratings and viewership for the OWN network increase steadily in the past year.

There is a balance between ego and we all have one and the ability to lead others by knowing how to use it. The greatest leaders know when to ‘pull ego’ and when to engage, enthrall and inspire others to join them on a journey. I watched the movie Lincoln in a theater by myself in Vegas last week- I purposely watched it by myself because I am a fan of Lincoln and I wanted to absorb the leadership messages in the film.

Lincoln had huge ego, he at many times had to assert his position as President of the United States of America and yet he was loved by many because of his ability to translate his vision and to shift his gifts of leadership into a common vision that could be felt and acted on by all.

Leaders who have underdeveloped ego are typically bullies, they are aggressive and overbearing, do not share credit with their team, bully people to submission and make people feel small.

Leaders who have ego and have balanced it and know how to use it acknowledge their gifts and their leadership attributes while recognizing others strengths and contributions, they share the glory, they inspire individuals by tapping into their unique motivators and they make people feel as if they are the most important people in the world.

Keep your ego but know how to use it.