It's very important in a leadership role not to place your ego at the foreground and not to judge everything in relationship to how your ego is fed.
Interpretation
Effective leadership requires prioritizing the team and mission over personal ego.
In her quote, Ruth J. Simmons emphasizes the need for leaders to set aside their personal ego and avoid making decisions based solely on their desire for validation or pride. This approach fosters a more collaborative and constructive environment, ensuring that leadership is focused on the collective goals rather than individual gain, which ultimately leads to better outcomes for the team and organization.
In practice
In a team meeting while discussing strategies, you could quote this to emphasize the importance of putting aside personal interests for the team's success.
That was my first lesson from Ben-Gurion. Then I saw him making peace, and I saw him making war. He mobilized me before the war. The man was a very rare combination between a real intellectual and a born leader. There is a contradiction between the two.
There are different ways to lead throughout a practice or a year. Whatever that moment needs is something I've always tried to be ready to do.
And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.
Sometimes I was wrong about my players. Sometimes I want more and more from them; sometimes I am so demanding, but they showed me how good they are.
We haven't always been aware of it, but the 'locker-room bro talk' has long been going on not just in locker rooms but in some corporate conference rooms. Of course, not by all men. But by some - including some who hold positions of power. And that matters in holding women back.
Earn your leadership every day.
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