Ego-driven leaders are those people who have many talents and abilities for leading, but  may not have the kind of self-awareness, training or confidence required to do so authentically. Most people don't know the difference between their ego and authentic self and are therefore unaware of when the are acting from their ego. This greatly impacts their ability to be an effective leader. This article shows some of the signs of the ego-driven leader and demonstrates the need for ongoing training & development to help them achieve their potential.

1. Are Ego-Driven Leaders Negatively
Impacting Employee Performance?
Unlike narcissistic
leaders, the ego-
driven leaders CAN
and DO change
their behavior. The
reason for their
behavior is often a
lack of training &
development.
www.CaliberLeadership.com hhilliard@caliberleadership.com 416.406.3939
By Anne Dranitsaris, Ph.D. & Heather Hilliard March 2015
Ego-driven leaders are those people who have many
talents and abilities for leading, but may not have the
kind of self-awareness, training or confidence required to
do so authentically. Most people don't know the
difference between their ego and authentic self and are
therefore unaware of when the are acting from their ego.
This greatly impacts their ability to be an effective
leader.
Our ego structure is there to protect us from
embarrassment, insecurities, doubts and fears of failure
or rejection. When leaders don't know they are being
self-protective, they perform as the leader they think
they should be and behave differently than their
authentic self. Posturing, the inability to collaborate, not
managing performance and avoiding conflict are ego-
driven behaviors that are fear based. While these leaders
have the capacity to develop, they are locked into
automatic behaviors instead.
While sometimes ego-driven behaviors look like
narcissistic behavior, there is a fundamental
difference. Ego-driven leaders CAN be developed.
A lack of leadership and managerial training and
development is often at the root of ego-driven
behavior and a fear of being exposed as
incompetent or an impostor.
Here are some of the signs that a leader is
coming from their ego:

2. Bringing attention to themselves.
Insecurity causes ego-driven leaders to talk
about their achievements and talents and
find ways of slipping this information into
conversations. Unlike most people who
don’t “blow their own horn”, these people
are often take the opportunity to boast
about what they have done and what they
can do. In order to reinforce themselves,
they are always speaking about themselves
and constantly use the word “I.” In
meetings, they want to be the one who is
talking, even if it means straying from the
agenda or interrupting others.
Reactive or lack of timely decisions. When
a leader is driven by the survival needs of
their ego, they can be afraid to make
decisions or take risks. They will wait until
the last minute to see which way senior
management is leaning before aligning
themselves with them to garner favour.
They can make decisions and then change
their minds, leaving their employees
confused and frustrated. They can take so
long to make their decision that they miss
opportunities and deflate the motivation of
their direct reports.
Lack of empathy. The ego has no capacity
for empathy. It operates in the world only
concerned with the “I” and has little
concern for the feelings of others. As a
result, when leaders operate from their
ego, they are unwilling or unable to
empathize with the feelings and needs of
others, as they are more concerned with
their own. They are intolerant of others
who talk about their problems and needs
instead of theirs. The ego-driven leader can
also be oblivious to how their behavior and
remarks inflict pain or embarrassment on
others.
Take things personally. Because the ego-
driven leader is self-protective, they view
the behavior of others through the lens of
“what does this mean about me.” This
means that they are easily slighted and it
is almost impossible to give them
corrective feedback. They distrust others
and believe that others are trying to get
them. Easily put on the defensive, they can
withdraw from or attack those who
question or criticize their decisions.
Difficulty building a team. An ego-driven
leader is the kind of leader that employees
ultimately leave. They expect direct reports
to do what needs to get done with minimal
investment from them. They blame their
people when things go wrong and will
overwork and under praises their direct
reports. Their department has constant
turnover and they have difficulty in
retaining highly qualified staff. Because
their ego can be easily deflated, they are
on the lookout for opportunities to devalue
the contribution of others to make
themselves look better.
At Caliber, our experience training in
organizations shows that when these
leaders are given ongoing leadership skills
training over a period of time, their
behavior changes. Too often it is assumed
that leaders have the confidence and
interpersonal skills required to manage
their employees performance and to build
their own team. This lack of development
training and coaching leads to employee
and management turnover, even at most
senior levels. Contact us for more
information on how we can help.
©2015 Caliber Leadership Systems Page 2