How to keep your healthy ego from turning into pride

In most cases, a person reaches the top not by chance but through hard work and perseverance. The latter turns any activity into an experience, which, in turn, becomes a skill. To go through such a difficult path requires a healthy ego, self-confidence, and the knowledge that you are doing the right thing. This adjustment is rewarded with a well-deserved sense of superiority over life itself.

The man broke all the sticks fate put on the wheels and now enjoys the situation. It sounds fair, but you can get infected with pride at any moment during the entire ascent. You can’t immediately make out the symptoms because, at first, they only go a little beyond the usual ego. The real problems begin when self-conceit is inflated to an extreme and unreasonable scale.

The syndrome of pride

The syndrome of pride is a complex of the darkest feelings and character traits. Among them are arrogance, selfishness, and vanity. Pride makes a person embellish achievements and exaggerate their importance to the common cause or humanity in general.

In everyday life, this manifests as excessive self-confidence, obsession with one’s image, and inadequate perception of criticism. As a result, this leads to a complete separation from reality. We are talking exclusively about a person’s problems.

However, the pride of one can be a verdict for many. Imagine a department manager or CEO making unrealistic plans. Deadlines will be disrupted, tasks will remain unfulfilled, and all employees will suffer.

The fate of the soldiers who found themselves under the command of a proud commander is much more tragic. History has many similar examples. Films have been made, and books have been written about some of the events. However, when everything was happening, the syndrome of pride of just one person was prohibitively expensive.

Why does pride syndrome occur

A healthy ego and pride begin to mix when a person gets a high position, which implies the presence of subordinates. No matter how you look at this position, you find yourself above many others. It’s intoxicating. The effect increases in proportion to how long a person remains in power.

Gradually, each successful decision also becomes a reason for separation from reality. This is best seen in the example of politicians, especially in Africa, where every national leader who overthrew a dictator ends up in exile or prison.

High morality and every kind of idealism have transformed over the years. Ego and pride remain the same and only get stronger. Psychiatrist Steven Berglas argues that morality serves only as a temporary shield. It makes you suffer when a person deviates from internal guidelines.

However, when the pain goes away, there comes an “epiphany.” It’s like a sudden discovery—”Eureka!” To hell with the shackles of old principles; now, other norms apply. This is how a new person appears, ready to do things previously beyond what was acceptable.

The negative effect of pride syndrome

You don’t have to be a psychologist, sociologist, or historian to understand how harmful pride is. A person who considers himself the greatest in a particular field or the world will cause many problems.

The only question is how many others will suffer and the consequences for those not involved. Let’s look at some examples of the negative effects of pride syndrome.

Undermining trust

A key position holder who is confident that he cannot make mistakes causes misunderstanding and distrust among adequate subordinates. In such an environment, development becomes impossible.

You meet the requirements, unquestioningly complete meaningless tasks, or leave. As a result, the least talented remain, but they could be more executive. For some time, the system can live and develop due to the leader’s contribution. However, the collapse is inevitable, and the perpetrators will be appointed when it happens.

Weak connections

No one wants to build a strong relationship with an arrogant and arrogant person. However, he doesn’t need it either. Strategic planning falls to the level of short-term interaction. You’ll be on your way for a while, but a professional will prefer to implement it elsewhere, away from the crazy leader.

Irrational decisions

The syndrome of pride obscures the eyes — anyone criticizing becomes a personal enemy. How dare a mortal condemn the decisions of a superman? Let it grow to the appropriate level first, and then, perhaps, the conversation will occur.

Therefore, this construction is not devoid of logic and is easily accepted by the proud. Meanwhile, it also forces you to make completely irrational decisions based solely on personal perception.

Reduced efficiency

Someone who has reached the top has talents, so he is at the core of building something more. First, authority rests on actual achievements, then on past achievements, and finally on addiction or fear. The final transformation occurs when the effectiveness of solutions decreases too much.

How to deal with the syndrome of pride

The main issue is that the pride disease can’t be found alone. If someone thinks they are better than everyone else, they will never even consider the idea that they might not be good enough. If the big goal is clear and you must try to reach it, why dig in that direction? We’ll talk about the benefits and consequences another time. This is about how cocky people make their cases. As you might expect, this leads to many bad things, so the trait of pride should be attacked before it starts.
Ask for feedback

Regardless of your area of life and field of activity, dare to receive feedback. You can think for others as much as you want, but you will hear the real opinion if you ask about it. This approach makes any leader and ordinary person more attractive to others.

However, it is important to listen to someone else’s opinion and to perceive it adequately. Any criticism attributed to the critic’s dementia will be of no benefit. The tendency to punish for an objectionable position will be even more harmful, whether it is ridicule, neglect, fine, or dismissal.

Objective assessment

On the one hand, pride syndrome does not allow for a comprehensive assessment of their decisions and actions. In your eyes, you will always be right, worthy, and the best. On the other hand, there are ways to evaluate activities objectively. Almost everything can be measured and translated into numbers.

It will be even easier at work than everyday life, where relationships and results are evaluated according to different rules. We must develop an accounting system capable of assessing actions and decisions as positive or negative.

Thus, having collected extensive statistics over a long period, looking at the picture from the outside will be possible. The strength of this method is that the painting is painted by the hand of the proud man himself, and he, as you know, cannot be mistaken.

Get your hands dirty

It would be useful for someone at the top to descend occasionally. It helps keep in touch with reality and lands and returns a decent appearance. It is unnecessary to go all the way over again; it is the opposite.

The main task of the descent is to find previously undiscovered climbing paths. Perhaps others are climbing these routes — it’s worth watching because there may be equals there. If you don’t interfere or help a little, it will become less lonely at the top.