“That guy has such an ego, I love working with him” said no one ever.

Ego is described as your consciousness of your own identity.

As professionals we have spent hours honing our skills. Our perception of our expertise is a massive part of our identity. Which also means when we feel like our hard-earned skills are being criticised or not recognised we inevitably take it personally.

Don’t get me wrong, by no means am I saying the ego is a bad thing. Without an ego we would lack the drive to fulfil our perception of ourselves. Think of your ego as a mighty steed bound for a majestic gallop into the sunset. Now without proper training that steed will go nowhere, or even worse, kick you off at every turn. But through conditioning that steed can take you off into the sunset, whilst you carry the fairest damsel, lasso 5 cows simultaneously and do it all with a smile on your face. Winning!

Now we have two topics to tackle here:

Firstly, how do we communicate our expertise?

Let’s set the scene: You’re pitching your latest work to a client, who, because they lack your expertise, hired you for exactly that. But that client still knows, or at least has an idea of what they want. So you pitch the idea you worked so hard on, only for it to be dismissed and requested to be replaced by an idea, which according to your expert standards is downright insulting. What follows I can only describe as the “what do they know!?” feeling coupled with a bunch of these #!@$%. As experts we are, for the most part, right. However, as the Business Gods dictate, the client is ALWAYS right. Business Gods > experts, sorry folks. But this situation need not happen again, if you collaborate with the client from the start.

As an expert it is part of your responsibility to communicate and collaborate with the client in a way that makes them feel like the expert. By doing so you are not only keeping the client happy but ultimately improving the outcome of the project.

So we know to collaborate with the client, but how do we keep our work ego in check?

A couple years ago I was in a position where I had to cold call potential clients, now my pitch was what I would call a soft pitch in the sense that I wasn’t asking for anything but rather offering something of value for free. My intentions as I perceived them were innocent, my ego assumed the ‘don’t shoot, I come in peace’ state. For the most part the experience wasn’t too bad, however I distinctly remember a handful of interactions with individuals over the phone that were, for euphemisms’ sake, not nice people. The effect these people had on me and my ego was tremendous, in one case it took me 30 minutes just to pick up the phone again! It’s like Santa being caught in a bear trap on his way to your Christmas tree, he’s only got good intentions, man!

When working on any project or product, take the focus off of your efforts and transfer it to focusing on the project instead. The subject transfers from your input to the project to the progress of the project (which has no ego to bruise). This way when you receive criticism it isn’t directed towards your ego but towards the success of the product. Thus preserving your work confidence, and ultimately your sanity. Seriously, who hasn’t felt like they’re going to explode after being criticised in work!

Start collaborating with your client and transfer the focus from your input on the project to the progress of the project and you’ll be well on your way to staring in your own ‘Zen and the art of galloping into the sunset’. Do you have any advice on dealing with your ego in the workplace? Share your thoughts and findings with me, I promise not to take it personally!

Sound Idea Digital is a complete digital marketing agency. For more information, contact 012 664 4227 or email to info@soundidea.co.za