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Check your ego: 3 questions to find out if a leader's ego is sabotaging the business

Having worked hard to get to where they are, there is no doubt that business leaders deserve a pat -or two or three - on the back. However, it's crucial they don't get too accustomed to those pats on the back, Fundera noted in a new infographic.

As leaders get more successful, employees, coworkers, and maybe even your clients strive to please them more. This tickles and inflates their ego through a phenomenon known as "Hubris Syndrome."

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While it is no harm having a little ego, an oversized ego can cause leaders to make serious leadership miscalculations which could sabotage the business.

Here's why: Think of the ego as a dartboard. Hence, bigger egos make for easier targets. People with large egos are likely to crave attention, making them predictable and susceptible to manipulation from others. In other words, they have a large target on their backs.

Further, inflated egos prevent leaders from learning from others, making them more likely to be rude and limiting their ability to make good decisions. If leaders believe they are always right, they will look for information that confirms what they want to believe. That confirmation bias could be toxic for the business.

While ego is hard to measure, 53% of business leaders estimate that uncontrollable egos decrease their annual revenues by up to 15%.

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If you've only just realised you have an oversized ego, it's not too late to do something to deflate it.

Here are three key ways to do so:

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Infographic / FunderaLead Image / 123RF

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