The Problem With Pride

The problem with pride is that pride thinks it is self sufficient. Pride creates a false sense of worth. The prideful mindset loses sight of just how much other people helped contribute to their individual level of success. After reaching a desired level of status, when pride takes over, the individual begins to believe their own delusional self-talk which convinces them that they can do anything all by themselves. This false self-actulazition causes these prideful individuals to become insensitive to the value of others and they are prone to continually criticizing everything that seems to be even the least bit wrong. Their sense of judgement is clouded by their pride and the alienation of human resources becomes an acceptable behavior because they now believe they are much smarter than everyone else. Pride becomes a barrier. Pride becomes a destructive force and the prideful individual will do damage, perhaps irreparable damage, to the very things that they are seeking to improve such as relationships.

Being proud of accomplishments is fine and should be an exhilarating experience. Working toward and achieving a goal along side other like-minded people is one of the most fulfilling experiences in business and life. When we all pull in the same direction amazing things can be accomplished because we have collectively overcome the obstacles and challenges that were in the way of the desired outcome. A degree of caution needs to be a part of every victory because in the light of winning some people become so enamored with the  "limelight" that they are blinded to the other people in the room! Suddenly the only voice they hear is their own. Pride has taken over their sense of judgement and is leading them down the path of believing they are more valuable that they actually are. One of the classic mistakes any leader can make is to believe, mainly because of pride, is that they are the most important piece of the solved puzzle. Puzzles are uniquely pieced together and every piece is individually crafted to serve a vitally important function.

Take pride in your collective and individual successful accomplishments but do not allow pride to take over your judgment process. "Pride serves to serve only pride"; and that is a dangerous and destructive self-inflicted wound. Be proud, not prideful and be smart enough to learn the difference.

Watering Dead Plants

One fine sunny day while I was mowing my lawn I noticed my neighbor watering their lawn and decorative plants with their water hose. Interestingly and to my amazement they began to water, rather liberally, a plant that was dead and was going to remain dead, no matter how much water they dedicated to the dead plant. The plant was dead. Their good intentions were not going to change anything except the wasting of their time and valuable resource, such as the water. They needed to accept the fact that the plant was dead and in order to make a positive impact they needed to pull the dead plant up by the roots, add some new soil and replace it with a living plant. Then they could water and make a lasting and positive impact. 

Business and life is sometimes like my neighbor. In business and in life we can dedicate time and valuable resources to activities that are dead or dying and need to die. Instead of taking a more beneficial approach by accepting the fact that the efforts, no matter how well intentioned, are not going to make a difference. And even if they did, just how much time and effort would we need to dedicate to   see if, in the end, our energies were well allocated. There are appropriate times that we all need to walk away from something and move on. The grass is not greener on the other side, the grass is greener where the grass is growing and gets watered at levels sufficient to give the grass the best opportunity to thrive. Dedicating time, energy and resources to anything that is not going to produce a positive result is bad enough but dedicating time, energy and resources to things that are dead or need to die will bring into question the quality of your judgement. Most often we continue doing these non productive activities because we inherited them or because we always have. Stop and consider if you are too close to the situation to make a reasonable and fair evaluation and if, after doing so, you come to the factual conclusion that you need to zoom out and take a look do so. The far away look may show that the dead activity is a waste of time and resources, you were simply too close to see it. Then you can replant, replace and replenish with the opportunity to produce more positive results.