The Career Suite

Podcast: The Career Suite
S1E3
3 Goals, 2 Egos, 1 Outcome
Host: Helen G. Sneed

Ready to drive your future forward?
Then you’re in the right place!
Let's step inside the Career Suite, where Career conversations begin with you!

Thank you for joining me inside The Suite today. Whether you are a seasoned subscriber via Apple, Google or Spotify or a first-time visitor, I appreciate your interest in driving your future forward.
Today inside The Suite, I’m going to ask you to tackle; 3 goals, 2 egos, and 1 outcome. You guessed it, that was a teaser for a football analogy.

In football, the traditional offense has two Tackles on the offensive line; the left and right tackle. The Tackles are typically the largest players on the field. The offensive line's job is to protect the quarterback. If you're not a football enthusiast, hang in there and please stay with me.
Whether you're the left or right tackle, you share the same goal; to protect the Quarterback and their blind spots.

The Quarterback is usually considered the offense's leader, and they need to see the field, read the defense, and make split-second game changing decisions. The Quarterback must see and anticipate opportunities.

If you’re wondering who decides which play to run; well, it could be the Offensive Coordinator or the Quarterback, but the game's outcome is one thing they all agree on; they all want a “W”, they all want to win; the Tackles, the Quarterback, the Coordinator, the cheerleaders, the fans, and the owners.
Which brings me to today's question inside “The Career Suite”; What is your process to recalibrate your ego so the team gets a win?

Managing your personal ego alongside the company's ego requires 3 things: awareness, collaboration and integrity.

The team win can be defined as your contribution that impacts the overall growth and sustainability of the organization, your business, or your relationship.

Think about the 2 egos in a relationship? Tell me that's simple.
What if the 2 egos in a relationship also run a business? That can be tricky!
Do you remember the moment you were interviewing a strong candidate with great potential and began to wonder if their ego might clash with someone in the C-Suite?

All three scenarios are possible. Nearly everyone in the Suite today is likely to have a healthy ego. So, let's talk about how to recalibrate a healthy ego when it suddenly begins to perform like a Gladiator.

The “I” in “You” can get in the way, it can get in the way of building relationships, moving projects forward, and serving in the organization's best interest.

And that’s why we are starting with awareness

1.What might "Awareness" look and sound like?
You're getting louder, more passionate, or even aggressive about a subject to get your point across. I am not talking about work situations where people are being unjustly treated but to circumstances where you keep pushing for something just because you want to "win," and the other people in the room or the meeting can't possibly be right.

How do you recalibrate that?
By giving other people a chance to speak, actively listening to their ideas, attempting to see their ideas in your mind's eye by taking notes, and considering their ideas before making a final decision. It moves from being about EGO to being about everyone.

2.What about “Collaboration”?
When I describe collaboration, I often suggest it's the first cousin to talent acquisition. Seeking out talent and selecting people based on their abilities, not titles or zip codes, and encouraging their creativity to redesign pieces of a puzzle that creates a more productive solution.

How do you recalibrate your ego when collaboration is missing?
By asking an informal leader for their opinion and listen. Document their ideas and see how far they can run with the project.

Step in for support and guidance and refrain from taking it over or interrupting them during a presentation. When a member of the leadership team declares, I have a question before you get started, that’s an Ego performing like a Gladiator.

3.“Integrity”?
Simply put, you take a hit for the team, acknowledge your mistakes, own your weaknesses, and consider that the old way isn't always the best or the only way. It's more than doing the right thing when no one is looking because if you think you are always right, then you're not concerned with who's looking.

Okay, story time and I changed the names to protect the innocent and the guilty.

A couple of years ago, I was in New Haven CT, and there was a team meeting with eight or ten people in the room. Sam, the leader began to ask a question and then answered it. Ok, no big deal. A few minutes later, Sam asks another question. She doesn't take a breath or pause; she keeps talking. The meeting is almost over, and Sam asks if there are any other questions and begins to schedule the next meeting. At this point, I realized part of what the leadership team needed to work on was “ego”.

I never heard anyone ask the first question, so I wasn't sure how Sam arrived at; are there any "other" questions and no one else within the leadership team thought that was an issue. As the situation continued to unfold, it told me that leadership counted their questions as "the questions”.

Scanning your team for non-verbal cues and responding with; “It looks like you might have a question, tell me what you’re thinking, I’d like to hear it” invites someone to share their thoughts.
What's important here, is how Sam didn't encourage people to digest the information, allow them to time to formulate a question and then ask it. She didn’t support engagement.

Essentially, Sam mixed, poured and drank the Kool-Aid, all while giving it a 5-star rating for taste, flavor and presentation. That's what an ego might look and sound like when it’s performing like a Gladiator.

As you step outside The Career Suite today, I'd like you to tackle 3 goals 2 egos, and 1 outcome

Three “Goals”:
1.Awareness
2.Collaboration
3.Integrity

And Two “Egos”:
Your ego and the organization's ego, combined with ways to recalibrate ego

And one “Outcome”
The “win”, for the organization, the business, and your relationship.

Your outcomes will be healthier, more robust, you’ll polish your brand, all while fostering creativity and innovation. Now that's Growth!

I'm Helen G. Sneed; join me again in the Career Suite, where I promise to save you a seat!

Subscribe, it’s free on several platforms and join me in Episode #4, as we dive into Talent Acquisition, you’ll be glad you did!

Date stamp: July 25, 2023