Ego is Dead – Or, at least it took a stiff beating in 2022

by David Casullo author of Leading the High-Energy Culture: What the Best CEOs Do to Create an Atmosphere Where Employees Flourish

At a recent board meeting I was intrigued by a conversation pre-meeting on the virtue of humility.  We were discussing this unifying element as critical to the success of a community rising.  I was moved to reflect on the conversation well after the fact and am now committed to making the art of building humility a SMART goal for 2023.  

I could spend a lot of precious time defining the concept and developing my argument as to its importance but for this piece I will simply assume the reader agrees – humility rocks.

Humble people are grateful.  Recognizing a blessing tends to begin the process of quelling ego as the source of the blessing.  Even egotists get a feeling that something they are grateful for has origins outside of oneself.  Think health, for instance.  Enjoying a healthy existence goes further than living a healthy life.  I know plenty of sick healthy lifestyle folks.  COVID, it can be argued, doesn’t recognize the difference in folks.  

So, in the spirit of gratefulness let me begin by counting a couple of blessings I am thankful for in 2022…

Family, including three healthy, happily married and independent children; five grandchildren all unique and special in their own way; and a loving, spectacular wife of 37 years whose existence in my personal and professional life is second only to my love and need for God.

The business(es), yes plural.  Grateful that my professional endeavors are integrating in ways I had envisioned but few saw possible – apples and oranges are, in fact, similar when you think a bit out of the box.  Turns out leadership development and community development go hand-in-hand and each accelerates the success of the other when the goal is accelerating the rebirth of a community like the one I live in and have dedicated my life to at this stage.

Lots of lessons from both thus far.  Suffice to say “unity” is definitely one ingredient for success.  There’s nearly 8 billion people in the world now and growing.  It’s a big house and you know how the saying goes, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  This goes for a family and for a community as well as for our world.

In 2023 all things that contribute to unifying those around us should become a focus.  Humility is definitely one.  And, behaving humbly is far superior to expressing humility verbally – I have a friend who masters the art of humble bragging and it is a real turnoff.  

Let’s go lite on the ego this coming year.  Look outside ourselves for those things that contribute to our blessings and the blessings of those around us.  Work for the common good.  Love your neighbor. 

As the year turns over I will be blogging with more messages born of the empirical and practical evidence our work at Daneli Partners reveals.  We hope it will influence good behavior.  Although the news would have you believe otherwise, there are plenty of humble, good people all around, doing good work to unify humanity and to kill ego once and for all.