Business DWI

In my opinion a big destroyer of businesses and business careers is ego. When too much ego is present in a decision or plan it is going to come apart at at some point. When owners have too much ego in their decision making I call this Deciding While Intoxicated. DWI. You are too juiced with yourself. Sometimes you cannot see this but others do. You are putting your self image above the well being of the business and do not see clearly. This results in decisons made by 'feelings' rather than facts. My wife the counselor frequently reminds me that 'feelings are not facts'. If you are a business owner you need the facts. If you go by those you will definitely feel better in the morning. Egosim, ego maniacs, ego centrics and all the rest usually come to ruin. A smart CEO keeps various voices around, other than "yes men", to stay grounded and out of the ego zone.

When I began doing well with my IBM sales career I became a bit cocky. I was taken by my fancy suits, custom shirts and expensive cars. As I extolled my accomplishments to my mother she always had the same unexpected response, which I hear to this day: "Tommy, pride goeth before a fall." Mom did not know a lick about business but she knew what got people into trouble. Heck, I really wasn't trying to be that prideful. Guys just want to impress their moms! Dads just tell you what you're doing wrong.

Do we doubt for one minute that the Wall Street collapse was brought on by serial DWI-ing executives ensconced in Taj Mahal offices being paid millions whether they did the job or not. You can bet that their main concern was to look better than their competitors. All involved just built a House of Ego that nearly brought down the nation.

I have found it a much better path to take a more humble approach. If you have been a business owner long enough you know that the Businessauress Rex Change Monster is always waiting outside your office to spew flames on your business. Things can change in a hurry and that should keep you humble. People like a strong confident leader but not a phoney one. If you are worried you should tell your people you are. If business is bad you should share the numbers. Employees have a lot of stake too and they try harder if you level with them. Sometimes owners just do not want to state bad news. Silly. It is the equivalent of pulling the score off the board if the home team is behind.

Anyway, if you are going around like a rooster just ask yourself what your mother would have to say about that and then you will know what to do. Some days you are the statue and some days you are the pidgeon. You will have plenty of both. On days you are the pidgeon let that remind you that you can actually leap, like superman, tall buildings in a single flight. On days that you are the statue, let that remind you that things can get messy at a moments notice.