When was the last time your ego overpowered you?
As human beings, we all have a secret self that we totally hide from others. For, what we think about someone or some situation is extremely difficult for others to understand. A small portion of this will be visible to the external world whenever we ventilate our emotions and there is a set pattern to our behaviour. For instance, some people around us remain very cool most times. We do understand that there is a particular chemistry that works within the individual. Ditto for others at the other end of the spectrum who are branded short-tempered.And alongside such human specific behavioral traits, there is a big ego that is always centered around something we are good at. If someone tries to outsmart us or falsely put on a show, we raise our ego and there is an outburst.
I have done it very successfully. The competitor is normally completely out as others would take sides and put down that fellow, particularly when the person is not so strong on his views and ideas. This happened when a person with inadequate knowledge tried to chide me with my understanding of a Strategic Management topic. I had read extensively about the practical opinion and had my own Indian examples with figures and facts. Others in the group totally sided with me. It was my ego at play. It was not my intention to outsmart him. But he did try to defame me and my ego was touched.
It was a very rare occasion, but it happened. After four days, that person, a teacher in a B School apologized for his behavior and the story ended there.
Have you had a similar occasion in your life?