Empowering Others Minus The Ego

‘The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self – restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it’
-Theodore Roosevelt


Secure leaders are able to give power to others. We see this model happening everyday in our business. From owners giving power to managers, who give power to role players, who give power to coaches, etc. But where does this go wrong – often one thing stands in the way of this model having the most success (in fact, it’s the same thing that stands in the way of most people’s success): EGO.

It’s your ego that tells you:
‘no, that’s my job, they can’t have credit for that.’
‘i’m better at that anyways, so I’ll do it’
‘why is this person trying to do my job, I’m supposed to do that’
‘I’m the leader/mentor, I couldn’t possibly learn anything from them’

And it’s funny, because the leaders that feel threatened and let their ego get in the way are usually the ones who have the most to worry about, and in turn not being the great leaders they could be if they would lose the ego. Those that are able to step back and see that there is no power in ‘one’ and that we all play very important and integral roles, will notice a lot more being accomplished – tangible and intangible. When you have great players on your team you don’t have to worry about someone taking your place because you are all working together towards a common goal. Take back the reins and see what happens – everyone becomes each others yings and yangs, and we all learn from each other. and this is what we all do well in our situations. We see potential role players/great coaches flourish when given the reins – great ideas we never knew they had are surfaced, they gain new confidence and more great things happening. We see this happening all the time. But unfortunately, as in any situation, we see the flipside happen as well. We are all mentors and leaders to someone at some point, but we can not always be there mentor and should not feel threatened when they are now doing a great job at what you did for them. We have some GREAT up and coming coaches – in due time they will have the reins, and we have to be confident in our teachings to give them full control and watch them flourish and be proud that we helped them get there.


A quick story: “Henry Ford was not so well known for his ego – which was the cause of his company’s eventual downfall. In fact he was the complete opposite of an empowering leader. He would undermine his company leaders and look over the shoulders of his people. This became a pattern in his leadership – anytime an executive gained power or influence, Henry would support the executives subordinates or publically humiliate him. As one Ford president commented on after leaving the company ‘ Henry Ford, as I would learn first hand, had a nasty habit of getting rid of strong leaders’ “


Only empowered people can reach their full potential. When a leader can’t or won’t empower others, then barriers are created that cannot be overcome. If the barriers remain long enough, then the people give up, or they move on to somewhere else where they can use their full potential. True empowerment and one of the greatest things is giving others the credit. Only very secure leaders are able to do this. Ego gets in the way because many people gain their personal value and esteem from their work or position – and by threatening to change that, is to threaten their self worth. We can surround ourselves with just as strong, influential, empowering, and motivating people so that we can all learn off of each other and challenge each other to grow better.

Empowerment is powerful – and not only for the person being developed, but also for the mentor who will one day come to see their ‘protégé’ succeeding. And when that day comes that your protégé has their own protégé’s they are empowering and leading – embrace it and celebrate it. Don’t jockey for your ‘past’ position with this person. Don’t let ego get in the way of your success – everyone can learn something from everyone, and no one is above or beneath anyone in terms of what knowledge they have to share.