Confidence or Ego
August 27, 2024Find your edge.
by Toni Delos Santos
90% Mental
90percentmental.com
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“Arrogance requires advertising, confidence speaks for itself.” – Shravan Srinivasan
After being in the starting lineup for 10 consecutive NBA seasons, Andre Iguodala was faced with a new role for the 2014-2015 season now playing for the Golden State Warriors. Steve Kerr, head coach for the Warriors, had to make a tough decision to have Andre coming off the bench as the 6th man. The decision wasn’t based on his performance but rather based on what Steve Kerr thought would be best for the team to win a championship. As it wasn’t easy going from being a starter to being on the bench, Andre Iguodala put his ego aside and accepted his new role on the team. The result of Andre putting his ego aside and giving 100% paid off. Golden State won the NBA Championship and Andre earned the Finals MVP Award! Steve Kerr’s confidence in Andre’s ability to transition to his new role was a calculated risk that ended up benefitting Andre personally and the Golden State Warriors. If Andre operated out of ego, this story might have had a very different ending.
Confidence and ego can often get misconstrued as being one in the same. When a person has confidence, they have a strong belief in their abilities and the abilities of others. When someone has a big ego, their motives are driven by how people will perceive them. They always have the need to be right and want all the credit and accolades when their decisions lead to success. On the contrary, a wrong decision will lead to finger pointing and not taking responsibility for what went wrong. Not only do they lose the trust and respect of their team and those they are representing, but they also lose the ability to learn from it and look for solutions as to how to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
A confident leader will be able to take the advice of others and refer to experts as opposed to thinking that will make them look weak. An ego driven leader will be more likely to think that they know more than the team they put in place and not benefit from their expertise. A confident person will be able to admit when they are wrong and give credit to those that helped them succeed when they make good decisions. Leading with confidence over ego will undoubtedly result in a much more productive and successful environment.