You Can’t Fight Ego With More Ego

There’s nothing uglier than a king who sits on a throne of self-indulgence—deluded by their own ambition, surrounded by silence, and blinded by the sound of their own voice.

Ego.

The ugliest force in business.

It doesn’t show up in board meetings wearing red.

It shows up when the vision pivots weekly—but the team is too afraid to ask why.

When a leader hogs the mic in meetings but disappears when hard conversations need to happen.

When feedback is labeled as “negativity” and honest questions are seen as disloyalty.

Ego destroys teams, culture, and growth more than any external threat ever could.

In companies where ego runs the show, decisions aren’t made with integrity—they’re made to protect the illusion.

You see it when:

• A leader doubles down on what’s flashy and flattering—while the foundation rots beneath them.

• They avoid admitting mistakes because it cracks the version of themselves they sold to the world.

• Disagreement is punished, not because it’s wrong, but because it dares to confront the narrative.

• A founder craves praise from the outside, while their team inside goes numb.

They call it “leadership.”

But everyone’s walking on eggshells.

This behavior doesn’t just cloud decisions—it hardwires patterns.

If it goes unchecked, you’ll start calling dysfunction “excellence.”

And confusion? “Alignment.”

So what do you do when ego is in the room?

You bring clarity.

When you’re dealing with ego—yours or someone else’s—the most powerful tool you have is black-and-white communication.

Ego thrives in gray areas.

It manipulates vagueness, deflects with drama, and hides behind noise.

When you make the issue so clear it can’t be twisted, avoided, or minimized—ego has nowhere to hide.

Here’s how:

1. Name what’s happening.

2. Define what’s not working.

3. Ground the conversation in facts, not feelings.

The goal isn’t to “win.”

It’s to wake up the room.

If you don’t name the problem clearly, then you will be labeled as the problem.

This isn’t easy work.

It requires having hard conversations without shutting down.

Sitting in discomfort without fleeing from it.

Building the muscle of honesty… even when your voice shakes.

It takes reps and most people aren’t used to that level of transparency or responsibility.

But over time?

It stops being hard.

And starts being the standard.