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We all have an ego, that much has been established by research, and religions. The question is, how best to harness it to our advantage in the workplace.

First, let us start with understand the negative impacts of your “ego.” If you have an uncontrolled ego, you will be closed to feedback, you will reject ideas that are “not invented here,” you will take offense to harmless comments, you will read too much into a co-workers words and actions, you will feel threatened, and you will generate needless conflict, and generally be difficult to work with. This gives us a pretty solid value case for controlling the ego in the workplace.

To measure the size of the ego, measure the “resistance” you feel within you when faced with situations in the workplace. You known, the feeling that comes up when your co-worker asks you to do something you consider unreasonable or just plain “dumb.” The higher the resistance, the bigger the ego.

Simply observe when and where you have “resistance” in the workplace. What types of situations, what types of people, what types of problems? Having this catalog or inventory will give you the size of the problem.

Before you panic and feel depressed at the size of your own ego, here is a suggestion for you to try. Approach each work situation where your co-worker lances your ego, with the determination: “If the suggestion is reasonable, I will embrace it. I will change myself and will have no problem is saying, ‘I was wrong’.”

If you reject this idea and feel you have no ego… read this post again from the beginning.