I recently read an interesting book by Ryan Holiday called Ego is the Enemy. As much as I truly enjoyed it, I did not feel 100% aligned with certain concepts.
When we think about enemies, we think about a world that is better off without them. Do we really want ego eliminated from existence?
I don’t want to get caught up in semantics, but I think a better title would be: Ego “Can Be” the Enemy.
I think of ego as a volume dial that can be turned up or down. Different situations require a different volume level.
When a situation requires collaboration and connectedness, the volume needs to be turned down low enough so that all ideas can be heard and analyzed properly, while still having enough belief to be decisive in our execution.
But when our number is called and we are now expected to execute our role, we need to turn the dial up so that our moment is supported by the belief and confidence we need in ourselves to achieve high performance in that moment!
So is ego a skill!? I believe it is more about those who have total awareness of knowing when to dial it up or dial it down.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
Is Ego Really the Enemy?
