Wow- talk about a humbling experience. My business, Rita Perea Consulting, has recently been 
nominated for two awards. One is the "Best Kept Secret" award and the other is the "Community Champion" award. Both are through the Greater Des Moines Business Partnership.
I could have my ego all wrapped up in this process. My ego could easily be saying "You gotta win this or your name will be toast! Second place is not an option!" My strong competitive side could be unleashed in full force. But where will that get me? Probably only to the land of high blood pressure, which is not a good place to be.
Call it the school of hard knocks, but in my last Executive position I learned to identify when my ego was involved in a particular project or decision. I learned to pay attention to the little (alright- huge) rush of adrenaline that would start at the tips of my toes and then shoot, like a mighty river, all the way to the top of my head. I learned that I could get such a surge of that unstoppable, unbeatable, ego-leading-the-charge, incredible feeling, that I could (and please don’t fire me for saying this) be found to make decisions that weren’t necessarily in everyone’s best interest. I learned, the hard way, that when my ego is involved, my thinking might be clouded. The book, A Course in Miracles, warns that our egos create an illusion and that we may not act for the "highest good of all" when our egos are engaged. Isn’t that the truth? I learned my lessons well.
But, I digress…
Back to the awards- My mission statement says it best: "Lead well. Live well. Do well." One of the values that my business was founded on is "Philanthropy is just as important as Profitability". For my business that means that I give back to the community a high percentage of my time, talents and profits. While it would be awesome to be recognized this, whether I receive an award or not I will still continue to do what I do for the right reasons. And, with my ego out of the way.
Photo: Flickr by Kershnerstudios
Thanks for the great post Rita. Boy that ego bit really hits home for me. Mine seems so needy and so insecure, needs to be right, needs to be noticed. The work of managing the ego is a life-long project I guess. Maybe if I got mine to playgroups more often it would be better at sharing, say kinder things, and just have better social skills altogether.
Thanks for the comment, Sherry. I say that we are in life-long recovery from our ego-driven habits. I think the key is to get up everyday and make a decision to not squelch or supress our ego, but to pay attention to it, acknowledge it and embrace it’s good works. This is called integration.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
– Rita