The past month has taught me a lot about myself recently and some bits are not as great as I would like them to be. Recently I was having a business discussion with a colleague and during the conversation you brought up the topic of ego. In his view ego is the one thing that holds people back from really achieving their real potential. When he divulged further, it was his opinion that if people could learn to leave the ego out of every emotional decision and be purely rationale about every situation we face then we can be successful. Now at the time I wasn’t convinced but given time and my most recent experiences I am starting to believe him, and here is my view on it:
Rugby is littered with egos and they come in all shapes and sizes and most of all intents. The sport has people who have been playing, coaching or managing for 10, 20, 30 up to 60 years and so no matter how long you have been in the sport everybody can be seen as an expert, everybody has an opinion some of which they feel very strongly about. And to an extent here in lies the problem, every single one of those people has an ego, has an emotion that sparks personal pride, that in turns leads to certain reactions.
Harness this pride in a positive way and you can bring out the best in people, they will do anything they can to meet the requirements their pride sets for them. But pride can be shattered, set standards to high and the world can come tumbling down around you, because it means you start setting expectations of others that can often be unrealistic and they let you down. Fail to harness a person’s pride and they can become the most obstructive person around preventing you from moving forward.
The real trick is getting everybody to leave their pride out of it entirely, it can make us cold but it can also make our decision making rationale, both in life and in the game. The ability to switch off emotion and make those cold sometimes ruthless decisions needs to be done without the impact of pride. Being able to make those decisions can be the difference between a win or a loss, or a job or not……
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