As many people now know, I teach commerce from a humanities perspective first and foremost. In short, this orientation is about satisfying needs and forming (and nurturing) constructive people relationships. The fundamental principle that I teach in this regard is that monetary reward is simply a natural consequence of meeting the needs of other people and getting relationships right.

The second most important principle that I teach is how our ego can over-rule sensibility and our tendency to make well-informed, objective and practical decisions. And more than that, how ego (if not kept in check) can ultimately lead to business failure. How is this so ? Read on…

I have been at the front-end of leading organisations for most of my adult life, and it is this extensive exposure to what I have come to learn is a typical (ego-driven) mindset of business owners that has taught me that it is owners themselves who are actually responsible for businesses not surviving – or at best remaining in “barely surviving” mode. I hear a gasp of disbelief and I sense large scale readership rejection of this statement and comments/ reactions such as “well I’m not like that” and “well that’s not me” entering readers’ minds. 

Well I’m here to tell you directly and without any doubt that the above statement is most certainly true in the case of many failing and failed businesses in New Zealand at least. Where the business owner’s ego has presided supremely over otherwise being open-minded and making well-reasoned and researched/ validated decisions.

Ego is responsible for:

  • An “I know what’s best for my business” mentality.
  • Closing one’s mind off to the input of other people.
  • Remaining steadfast in believing that a certain perspective/ course of action is the “right/ best” one to have/ take – despite what substantiated facts to the contrary may indicate.
  • Politically volatile workplace environments – where interaction is focused more so on individuals than “ideas”.
  • Ensuring that when the business owner finds themselves in difficulty they refuse to reach-out for help.

So what I teach students at the Eastern Institute of Technology is how to put ego in the backseat, and instead bring well-reasoned objective decision-making to the fore. These students are learning that it is not only O.K. to ask for help in order to understand a perspective/ fact/ topic, etc but it is actually essential to do so in order that they develop their knowledge base – and grow within themselves – as a consequence.

In short, these students are learning how to manage their egos, look outwardly and constructively question/ challenge the status quo that they experience in order to uncover new (and often innovative) solutions…they are emerging as mature-thinking people who are concerned with resolving the “why” question as much as stating “what” a feasible solution may be to whatever problem/ issue – through the application of critical (objective) thinking.

My best advice to those business owners who tend to suffer from “I know what’s best syndrome” is reflect a little on the “drivers” of your decisions in order to see if your decisions are largely being driven by your ego or instead a rational and objective decision-making process. I kind of fancy not being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff picking-up shattered pieces of ego at the end of the day.