“Leave your ego at the door and your sweat on the floor” Gym users will have seen this phrase. In the world of work, perhaps “Leave your ego at the door and keep your feet on the floor” is more apt! Adhering to this adage will ensure you make better decisions as well as create inclusive and caring cultures.

Plenty of us know what “SOGIs” are (“Senior Officer Good Ideas” for those fortunate enough not to have come across this term!). In many cases they aren’t good ideas! In hierarchical organisations, where deference endures, it can feel easier to say yes to a “SOGI”. In spite of knowing we are encouraged to speak up and challenge reasonably – it can be hard; And harder if you don’t know if your boss genuinely welcomes honest feedback; And hardest if you are from an underrepresented group (or if you are not from the "Inner Ring").

This is not new. Epictetus, the Greek stoic philosopher, said “we have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak”. Learning from (diverse) others helps mitigate risks of skewed decision making and reduces our extant blind spots. This is particularly important for those working in Defence and National Security. Matthew Syed expertly exposes this in his excellent “Rebel Ideas” book (CIA and 9/11).

The impact of ego can be exacerbated in stratified organisations. Structures and systems can conspire (unwittingly) to stymie accessibility to leaders, risk isolation and feed the “iceberg of ignorance”. I have personally seen the results; ranging from bad decisions, poor outcomes, undervalued people, corrupting behaviours and wasting resources.

The good news is that there is much that we can do to proactively prevent this from happening. Feel free to share your ideas with me. Here are some of mine:

• Teamwork thrives when collective goals are prioritised above personal plans. Those of us who studied Adair’s Three Circles framework will remember this. Cooperation, learning together and continuous improvement go hand in hand with supportive and inclusive decision making. Managing our ego is crucial to create values based leadership and followership.

• Psychological safety, another crucial ingredient to unlock inclusion, can be difficult to achieve; but as a force multiplier, is worth the effort.

• Establishing trust, vulnerability and honesty, in your teams, are also vital. Successful leaders must be prepared to admit they don’t know everything; to encourage radical candour and reasonable challenge in order to learn and improve decision making. Values centric approach will also improve culture and behaviour. Recruitment and retention will also benefit from this.

In summary, my key observations are:

• Have humility – develop emotional and cultural intelligence to create conditions for your team to contribute their knowledge, skills, experience, attitude and behaviours. Do this to be a high performing team delivering the best outcomes

• Be grounded - when commanding I always tried to made my own brew (and did my own washing up)! I still do this!

• Listen to understand - acknowledge you don’t know everything

• Have people in your team who speak up – challenge your ideas and call out your behaviours

• Be honest about giving credit where credit is due - pass on accolades to those who contributed to success

• “Serve to lead” – the paradox of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst’s unchanged motto endures everywhere

Finally, feel free to contribute to the conversation. How do you manage your ego and keep your feet on the floor? Why do you think it is hard to speak up and challenge? Contact me at [email protected]

“Humility protects you from being driven by ego needs” (Ryan M Neimiec & Robert E McGrath)

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” (CS Lewis)

Blog written by Lindsay MacDuff (He/Him), Head of Inclusion at BFBS Creative