Leaders: Does your Ego prevent Change?

Potentially, we could all be authentic leaders. That means that most of us have the intellectual ability to be aware of ourselves and our interactions with the people we work with; that we are perfectly able to be objective decision makers and holders of strong values. In theory, humans can learn how to be open and honest in their dealing with others, and they can be socialized so that they can be ethical role models. I mean, it should really be possible for leaders to do and be all that – plus so much more.

Those of us who have met such leaders know it is achievable; but we also know it can be very hard to maintain a leadership role with integrity, consistently and in the face of all adversities and challenges of today’s business environment. Still, I believe it is not a basic lack of capability that drives some of us off the right path, or makes us inefficient, incredible and weak leaders. The culprits are those dimensions of our human nature that work counterproductively to our will for advancement: psychological forces that hinder us from seeing ourselves in bright light and consequently prevent us from changing.

I like to deny my limitations. What’s Your favorite Ego Defense Mechanism?

Particularly for people in leading positions it can be difficult to admit that they are not universally talented or incredibly gifted with all necessary professional and personal qualities and skills. Their subordinates, colleagues, shareholders and associates have high expectations which they want to fulfill. To recognize shortfalls in oneself that lead to less productive outcomes is painful, for some it is impossible. And to a certain extent, that is normal. In psychology it is called ‘Ego Defense Mechanism’ and refers to those internal processes that help us deal with pain, anger or self-devaluation. Our immediate response to unhappy events that threaten our Ego is to maintain a positive picture of ourselves. We might do so in many ways: some of us like to compensate, that is to cover up one weakness by emphasizing another, more desirable trait. Others prefer to rationalize, meaning they try to prove that their behavior is 'rational' and justifiable and thus worthy of self and social approval. We might have observed some people to simply deny the unpleasant reality by refusing to face it (my favorite strategy). Then there are some who project: they place the blame for difficulties upon others or attribute their own unethical desires to others. Nice! The most interesting one (there are many more, though) that I read about is Identification: some people actually identify their Self with other people or institutions of illustrious standing in order to increase their feeling of worth.

Wow, human beings are just fascinating. And so incredibly creative when it comes to inventing strategies to avoid looking at their own limitations, rather than just facing them and turning them into strengths.

How Authentic Leaders deal with Weakness

Now, I mentioned that there are those leaders out there who can evolve constantly and never cease to learn and grow. Some of them might just be authentic leaders, because they know not only about their shortfalls but also about their Ego defense mechanisms. But you know what? They don’t fall so much for the latter. For them, self-verification is more important. They want to know the worst in themselves in order to overcome it. They make accurate and balanced self-assessments whilst sticking to their core beliefs. They are able to more objectively evaluate and accept both positive and negative aspects, attributes and qualities of themselves, including skill deficiencies and negative emotions. Instead of losing their sleep over some of their weaknesses, they deal with them and increase their self-esteem and confidence in the process.

Because if you can overcome yourself, you can overcome anything. (Can you tell that I'm a Nietzschean?)

In any case, my point was that most of us can do it. Authentic leaders show us that it is possible. If we are ready to do it, is quite another story.

Your comments and feedback are welcome. Your criticism is, too. Even if I will deny its existence at first.

References:

Gardner, W.L., Avolio, B.J., Luthans, F., May, D.R., & Walumba, F.O. (2005). “Can you see the real me?” A self-based model of authentic leader and follower development. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 343-372

Kernis, M.H. (2003). Toward a conceptualization of optimal self-esteem. Psychological Inquiry, 14, 1-26

http://www.crescentlife.com/psychstuff/ego_defense_mechanisms.htm