If the term “Ego Investment” is new to you, I’m confident the concept is not.

The level of your own “ego investment” depends on how much time, energy, and financial resources you’ve sunk into a person or project.  The rule of thumb is that the more ego investment you’ve made the more difficult it is to be objective around the discussion of that person or project.

Our children are a primary example.  After years and years of ego investment, our ability to see our own children objectively greatly diminishes.  The same can be said of a direct report who we hired and invested time in developing especially if we accept the erroneous belief that their success or lack thereof is a direct reflection on our own.

An effective leader acknowledges this truth when seeking to evaluate their own blind spots as well as the blind spots of others.

It also causes a wise leader to sit with all stakeholders prior to beginning a project and make decisions about the amount of investment each might be willing to make in the project and how success is going to be determined.  Making those decisions before ego investment begins protects all parties from committing to a person or project long beyond where wisdom would dictate.

Factoring the subjective component of ego investment into the equations surrounding decisions aids in maintaining objectivity in the midst of what can often be subtly emotionally laced circumstances.

Categories: Decisiveness, Ego, Emotional Composure, Empathy, Listening, Time Competency