How to transform your business and become an internationally recognized marketing legend?

Yes, it’s doable…. only doable not by you, but through you.

First, you will have to transcend the whole idea of becoming a legend.

Learn to disappear, abandon “You” in yourself, the whole “me-me-me” notion – drop it. Learn to separate your ego from your authentic self and then destroy it vigorously. It will never fully disappear as the whole purpose of the ego is to keep you safe from ever changing environment and external (or perceived as such) threats.

In the hunt for world domination you might forget what brought you in this business in the first place. Wasn’t it the dream of improving things that don’t work, transforming “same-old” into “ever-fresh” and “ultimately true”?

Just step back and look at you. Aren’t you sick of yourself yet? Your little personality that wants to be larger than life itself, your tiny persona clinging to its superficially built identity… Aren’t you just bored of yourself?

Aren’t you fed-up yet from the prison you’ve built to convince the world that you matter?

Well, here is the news for you – you don’t. No matter what you do, or what you don’t do – you simply don’t matter. On the large scheme of things all your grand finale will be no more than a quick fart of the universe. Isn’t that ironic?

I can sense your contraction; I can see how your whole body resists of the very idea of being nobody.

But my very dear friend, with realization of this simple truth, this healthy disillusionment, the true journey of your true self begins… along with your one and only pass to creating something that is worth of being touched by your hand. The rest is dust. The rest is vanity. The rest is an ephemeral creation of a flawed human with short-lived desires and impulsive intentions.

Now, get your booty off the pedestal, get off your sleepers and get to real work. Work on your real dream, on that is worth of dreaming.

Couple days ago I attended BizTechDay 2009 (thank you Edith, Jini and the team).

There were many great presenters. I met Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, Kevin Rose, founder of Dig.com, Matt Mullenweg, founder of Wordpress, Tim Ferriss, author of “4-hour work week”, reconnected again with Will Bunker, co-founder of Match.com; listened presentations and mingled with a lot of other outstanding entrepreneurs.

The one conversation that stood out for me was with Michael Gerber, the author of all famous book “E-Myth”, as it touched upon some important topics, some that I ponder upon quite a bit lately. There were few points that Mike emphasized on that I absolutely agree with:

• Become a master of business design, build something that transformative and remarkable, or don’t do it. And build it to scale for a greater impact.
• You have to transcend your life to transform your life; you have to transcend your company to transform your company. Be able to always live in the “now”, always look at your company with fresh eyes, disregarding your past plans, past goals, past accomplishments and failures. Go beyond your own needs; dream what your company can become since ‘now” to effect many lives.
• You don’t make music. Music comes through you when you do your job. It was a lesson Mike has learned from his saxophone teacher. Merle Johnston used to say to him “Michael, you don’t make music. Music finds you. Your job is to practice to get yourself ready.” Entrepreneurship is, first of all, the power to create. But creation is not something that you do. Creation is something that is done through you. Your job is not to become an entrepreneur. It is not to create. Your job is to commit to the process of becoming an entrepreneur and then to practice what entrepreneurs do so that entrepreneurship can find you when you’ve practiced enough to be ready. Commitment and practice. Commitment and practice.
• Entrepreneurial dreams are not personal, they are impersonal. It’s not about your Ego, it’s about your destiny.

I was astonished to know that one of Michael’s favorite book is one that is on my list of THE main books of your life, or the last book you will ever NEED to read – “I am that” by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj – the most powerful book you will ever read (if your level of consciousness evolved to the degree when you can fully comprehend it). You can open any page any time and it always answer all fundamental questions that can ever arise in your mind.

I was just trying to find on the net some of Mike’s quotes on dreaming beyond the ego and ego-driven motives, but instead I just stumbled upon this article on Evan Carmichael’s web site that I find very relevant. (I first met Evan few years ago in Toronto at Indigo book store during one of VC presentations. It’s been a while…)

So I want to share it with you:

”The Costs of Ego” by Jerry Pinney.

“Ego is the invisible line item on every company’s profit and loss statement.”
—David Marcum and Steven Smith in egonomics: What Makes Ego Our Greatest Asset (or Most Expensive Liability), Fireside, 2007

Fifty-three percent of businesspeople estimate ego costs their company 6 to 15 percent of annual revenue; 21 percent say this cost ranges from 16 to 20 percent.

That’s somewhat astonishing, considering “ego” is difficult to measure by any standards. But even if ego accounts for only 6 percent of revenue, the annual “cost of ego” would translate to nearly $1.1 billion to the average Fortune 500 company—roughly equal to the average annual profit of these same companies.

Big egos invade every team conversation, boardroom debate, marketing plan, client interaction, contract negotiation, employment interview and performance review. There’s no question it gets in the way and is a major cause of bad decision-making.

Most of us strongly believe our ego is healthy, contributing to self-confidence, optimism and success. Most of us don’t have overinflated egos, but we’re capable of letting them run amok—and our personal success and organization’s performance pay the price.

Using five years of research, David Marcum and Steven Smith write about the costs of ego in egonomics (Fireside, 2007):

• The person who develops an idea trumps the quality of that idea
• Hearing, but not listening
• People thinking “me first, company second”
• Only the “right” people have good ideas
• Pressure to fit in
• Failure to challenge status quo
• Candid discussion saved for outside the meeting
• Failures being buried and never mentioned again
• Silos created and tolerated
• Meetings going longer than necessary
• Fear of making mistakes or admitting them

Companies can be populated with talented, high-IQ people with no shortage of vision, education, experience or good intentions, yet they may still have an undercurrent of out-of-control egos responsible for huge losses in productivity and profits.

Liability or Asset?

There’s a significant difference between “big ego” and ambition. Professionals usually start out with big ideas, a healthy ego, ambition, talent and ideas, which drive success. With good timing and help from others, great things invariably happen.

But there’s an inherent trap. When people begin to believe their “own press,” successes create the illusion that they alone were responsible for workplace accomplishments. “Big ego” may then take over, leading to the belief that future accomplishments will be just as successful.

Ego Is a Good Thing?

Titrated properly, ego is inherently positive, providing a necessary level of confidence and ambition. Left unchecked, however, ego goes on a hunt, seeking more of what bolsters it. But overconfidence and unbridled ambition can also attack our talents and abilities, with big ego leading to bad decisions.

Consider these organizational “strengths,” which can backfire:

Strength Return Costs

Charismatic
+. Paints a vision, inspires others, attracts talent, keeps people motivated

-. Manipulates bad ideas to sound good; people overlook substance for style

Dedicated
+. Produces, doesn’t let obstacles overcome the end goal, finds a way to get things done—no matter what
- . Won’t consider alternatives, resists changes (even when they provide better outcomes), cuts off creativity in the name of “getting things done”

Optimistic

+. Isn’t frozen by reality, even when it’s negative; can help people get through difficult times; reminds people of better times ahead

-. Won’t listen to bad news, believes a positive outlook can overcome anything, rejects bad news as the pessimism of the naysayers

(For a complete table of strengths and their returns and costs, visit www.egonomicsbook.com)

These subtle differences become leaders’ ultimate blind spots.

Four Signs of Big Ego

Your coworkers and team members are usually aware—much earlier than you’ll ever figure out—that your ego has become overinflated. Here are four telltale signs:

1. You find yourself being defensive. Defending ideas ultimately turns into becoming defensive.
2. You continually compare yourself to others. In truth, being too competitive actually makes you less competitive.
3. You seek acceptance to justify your ego needs. You crave respect and recognition from others, which eventually interferes with your success.
4. You make a point of showcasing your brilliance.

Your ego may be in control if you experience the following:

• Viewing a colleague as a rival and planning how to “beat” him/her
• Taking it personally when someone disagrees with your ideas
• Disagreeing with someone simply because you didn’t come up with the idea first
• Prematurely criticizing the competition’s strategies without considering their value
• Compulsively following a competitor’s lead, just to “keep up with the Joneses”
• Comparing others’ external environments to your own (signs of status or wealth, without regard for inner values)

3 Keys to Maintaining a Healthy Ego

There are three keys to developing a balanced ego:

1. Humility
2. Curiosity
3. Veracity

Without losing confidence in who we are or lessening the importance of what we’ve achieved, humility creates a desire to reach the next level of performance. It doesn’t lose sight of “me,” but it also prevents our personal needs and agendas from interfering with open dialogue and intense debate. Humility channels our ambitions into the success of “we,” rather than a selfish and short-lived agenda of “me.”

Once humility creates an open mind, curiosity drives the exploration of ideas. It gives us permission and courage to test what we think, feel and believe to be true, reminding us we don’t know everything.

Veracity is the habitual pursuit of the truth. It’s not that people don’t want the truth, but we often don’t want all of it—particularly the part that’s hard to hear or doesn’t support our agenda.

If openness and progress are the outcomes of humility, and innovation is the aim of curiosity, then veracity is the light that exposes the truths hidden in the shadows of our habits and comfort zones.

The subject of ego is also explored in my previous article “20 reasons why a gigolo can make the best marketing leader. The sexiest business blog post you will ever read. From a great lover to a great CEO. “ Read on, comment, tweet, reblog, and keep coming back for more food for thoughts.

…
by Olga Kostrova, CEO of IdeaMama Group | IdeaMama Ad Network | IdeaMamaClub.com |

Connect with me on LinkedIn & Facebook | Follow me: twitter.com/IdeaMama | Skype me: IdeaMama |

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