How leaders make ego an ally, not an adversary
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In India, we treat leadership the way we treat wedding guests: the more people hanging around to feed your ego, the more important you must be.The Ego Equation is simple: Power + Applause – Answerability = Inflated Human Balloon.In theory, leadership is about service. In practice, it often resembles a group project where one person signs the report and everyone else does the work. The moment someone acquires a title, their WhatsApp typing speed slows by 40%.
They will scribble something in shorthand like ‘Seen’ or ‘Do the needful’. This is known as “executive latency,” a side effect of believing your thoughts must mature like exotic mango pickle before being shared.Indian offices have perfected vertical yoga: everyone bends. Subordinates bend downward, superiors bend reality.
Feedback travels up the hierarchy only after being filtered and occasionally fictionalised. By the time it reaches the top, even a crisis looks like “minor alignment issues”.But here’s the paradox: the higher you rise, the thinner the oxygen of honesty. Without deliberate discipline, leaders confuse obedience with respect and silence with agreement.Every leader claims to be mission-driven.
Few admit to being ego-driven. Yet the two are close relatives. Ambition wants to achieve; ego wants to be seen achieving.
One builds institutions. The other builds personality.In moderation, ego is not only useful—it is necessary. Leadership demands a certain audacity: the willingness to take responsibility when outcomes are uncertain, to stand firm when consensus is absent, and to persist when criticism is loud.
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