Balancing the Entrepreneurial Ego

EEE 444

Professor Torrens

October 29, 2016

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The golden age of entrepreneurship is happening now and becoming trendier than ever.

The 21st century has transformed the definition of entrepreneurship from simply establishing a

business to a multi-faceted phenomenon that is nearly impossible to measure or define. People

from all walks of life are immersing themselves into this new promising gateway of

entrepreneurship. From disrupting the status quo and pushing the world forward to simply

stepping out of that comfort zone to do something unexpected, entrepreneurship has become a

navigable road to success for many. However, some have found their way down this route more

successfully than others.

Becoming a successful entrepreneur has guidelines. This by no means is implying that

there can only be one set of guidelines. If that were the case, it would be a straightforward as

finding an answer using a specific formula. Guidelines on the other hand, are principles put

forward to determine a course of actionsuch as the course of actions leading up to success.

Contrary to following a distinct formula, following guidelines are like taking advice:

reccommended but never mandatory and often the best type of advice, entreprenruship related or

not, comes from those who have been through similar experiences. It is under the assumption

that entreprenurial success comes from rational decision making and good judgement when its

time and again a result of learning from mistakes and getting back on your feet after running into

failure. For this reason, many entrepreneurs are doing what they wish someone had done for

themtelling their stories, acknowledging the mistakes made along the way and sharing advice

and experiences, not just with anyone, but with other aspiring entrepreneurs. Daryl Erdman,

author of the book Scar Tissue, offers expert insights, lessons on entrepreneurship and practical

advice to his readers regarding his own experience. By taking a preemptive approach throughout

the book, Erdman describes entrepreneurial success through a series of twenty-four lessons
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learned from scar tissue events a general term he coined for the unfortunate mistakes and

failures made along the way. While some of the scar tissue events are more predictable than

others, they all in one way or another, tie into an entrepreneurs potential for success. Whats

interesting about this series of events is the way in which he refers to most of them as failures.

Scar Tissue Event Twenty-One: Controlling the Ego is different in that sense. Whether Erdman

did this intentionally remains unclear. What is clear, is the controversy that lies within this

quality regarding its positive or negative impact on success. While we associate an

entrepreneur's confidence and willpower with their ego, it can also become a dangerous and

unavoidable trap that one can fall into. Controlling the ego is not a one-sided ordeal and for an

entrepreneur to get to the core of their motivations, striking a healthy balance between ego and

essence is imperative to entrepreneurial success.

Without a healthy ego, entrepreneurs will not be in the right mindset to overcome the

everyday challenges of building a startup. Despite its negative connotation, people with a

healthy ego are adaptable to the changing tides of the business world (Mamas, 2016). The ego

acts as an inner source of empowerment for entrepreneurs. Those who lack egocentric qualities

are constraining themselves from forward thinking and boundary-pushing ideas from advancing

into revolutionary outcomes. It takes self-confidence to blaze your own path and assume all the

risk and responsibility that come with doing it alone. A healthy ego is often an advantage in

business (Silverstein, 2010). Leadership, trustworthiness and innovation are all qualities that

build off the ego. Without them, entrepreneurial success is simply unrealistic.

Entrepreneurs need to be leaders. They need to motivate those who are following to help

them turn their vision into a reality. Erdman acknowledges this by stating that the entrepreneur's

ability to be a leader is a key characteristic that leads to successfully transforming an idea and
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creating an organization that will have a life of its own (221). For this reason, egotism and

leadership go hand in hand. Leaders need to have the interpersonal skill of self-awareness to

influence others. Part of being a leader is about being the backbone that others can rely on. Not

everyone is comfortable with putting their foot down when it comes to decision-making.

However, an entrepreneur who can make decisions and take risks confidently will more

effectively prove that their idea or sense of direction has worthwhile potential. Whether its an

organization, a group of people or a new idea, entrepreneurs are always taking the lead. Without

the ego, the necessary leadership qualifications will be absent and entrepreneurs will fall short of

convincing others to trust them and have faith in their abilities.

Speaking of trust, an entrepreneur without credibility will only make it so far in the world

of business. One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is to assume that others trust him

simply by virtue of his title. As a leader, you are trusted only to the degree that people believe

in your ability, consistency, integrity, and commitment to deliver (Horsager, 2012). These

attributes are critical to trusting others and with a little bit of ego, can stand out further. Having a

healthy ego as an entrepreneur is a beneficial attribute to have for building trust. It will become

apparent to others if an entrepreneur is trustworthy based on the level of confidence they first

convey in themselves. Egos can influence an individuals tone of voice, the way in which they

physically present themselves and certain aspects of their mentality. A tone that comes across as

hesitant or inconsistent with the message being communicated, is likely to dissuade those at the

other end of the conversation and exemplifies one way a healthy dose of ego is beneficial for an

entrepreneur. Without having the self-confidence to hold your head up high, sense the dedication

in the mind and hear the passion in the voice, an entrepreneur will fail at proving his or her trust

to anyone beyond themselves.

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The last positive quality that can arise from the entrepreneurial ego is the potential for

great innovation. In todays globally competitive world, an important factor for success is the

ability to differentiate and stand out and to do that, we must innovate (Venn, 2014). In Venns

article Confidence and Creativity Equal Success, innovation can come from all different

directions but the heart of it is the ability to be creative, to experiment, to think outside the box

and take a leap of faith (Venn, 2014). Those who are innovative dont just strive to be better

without some sort of egotistic drive. For entrepreneurs, the goal to come of innovation is

disruption which is typically the result of thinking the unthinkable, imagining the unimaginable,

and deluding the delusional. Delusion is commonly perceived as a negative way of thinking in

entrepreneurship in the same intellect that having an ego comes off as a undesirable attribute.

However, a delusion can have the potential to become an innovation and from there, a reality.

Serial Entrepreneur, Mentor and co-founder of YoungEntrepreneur.com, Matthew Toren takes a

similar standpoint on delusions derived from the ego. In his Entrepreneur.com article Why a

Big Ego Isn't Always Bad (2014), Toren makes the following point: A little delusion can be

good. Theres a saying, you cant argue with crazy. Some of the greatest innovations and

advances to the human experience came from some of the crazy ones. The ability to believe

in yourself requires a healthy development of ego to process your surroundings in a way that

supports your big vision (Toren, 2014). With a little assistance from the ego, the entrepreneur is

more susceptible to tap into the vast array of opportunities that lead to great innovation.

Its the question of when to draw the line between a healthy ego and too much ego, that

entrepreneurs need to stay attuned with. In any given situation, business related or not, having a

big ego is associated with arrogance and sooner or later will pose as a barrier to achieving

success. Accomplished entrepreneur and business leader Daryl Erdman covers the importance of
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keeping the ego in check as an entrepreneur throughout Scar Tissue Event Twenty-One:

Controlling the Ego. Those who dont understand when the line is being crossed and continue to

let their egos take over end up putting a constraint on the following aspects leading up to

entrepreneurial success: learning, acting on opportunities, realizing inabilities, seeking help and

achieving goals. But then there are entrepreneurs who have kept their ego under adequate control

throughout the journey leading to their success. Entrepreneur Dr. Zina Berry, a Syracuse dentist

and founder of Berry Good Dental Care, is a prime example of an individual who has

demonstrated a sense of ego syntonical control throughout the coming of her entrepreneurial

ventures. After the adversities Dr. Berry encountered at the start of her entrepreneurial quest, to

everything she has accomplished almost sixteen years later, suggests that her mounting rate of

growth wouldnt have amounted from uncertainty to success, without keeping that ego of hers in

check.

An entrepreneurs ego can get in the way of recognizing the need to learn more. What

Erdman refers to as crossing over a large chasm from uncertainty to success (218), is a stage at

which entrepreneurs are more susceptible to their super-ego and therefore become vulnerable to

making mistakes and failing. Their evolving success starts to get into their head making them

think they are past the point of needing to learn more and have all the answers themselves. The

reality of this is that they are ironically being subjected to weakness with this mindset. Its when

the entrepreneur can come to terms with their ego and can realize learning beyond what theyve

already accomplished is not a weakness but rather a forte. Without some sort of egocentric

control, an entrepreneur is unable to navigate the waters of good judgement: self-knowledge,

social networking knowledge, and contextual knowledge (Erdman, 222). Dr. Berrys story

proves this as she was able to admit to herself that the skills she needed to succeed in both the
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actual dental operations and the business side were extremely different. She recognized the need

to learn more, and rather than backing down and giving up on her ambitions, she kept her

egocentric mindset balanced and continued to learn by making the most out of what she had

available to her.

Another side effect caused by an entrepreneurs super-ego is missing out on potential

opportunities. When an opportunity fronts an individual, especially those with too much ego, its

easy to overlook it. Entrepreneurs more specifically, aspire to be the reason for their own

success. This in turn makes the idea of encompassing new and improved opportunities from

anyone but themselves generally unfavorable. Daryl Erdman strongly believes that long term

success is entirely dependent on being able to make good judgement calls, therefore the

entrepreneur should recognize the critical crossroads in his/her company and then acquire the

necessary information to make knowledgeable decisions (222) and avoid an opportunity from

passing. Having too much ego will overrule any inclination to act on potential opportunities. It

was evident that Dr. Zina Berry is not the type to ignore an opportunity as she barely had

anything to start with in the first place. She proved this by advising the importance of setting

aside cash for the unforeseen opportunities in the future which goes to show that as an

entrepreneur, she always looking out for new opportunities to appear. Entrepreneurs like Dr.

Berry, who can gauge the nature of an opportunity by subtle means is a representation of what

can come of having a healthy balanced ego.

Not every decision or course of action is about an opportunity. In entrepreneurship,

business and life in general, choosing the course of action and making appropriate decisions are

key factors to success. Having too much of an ego can feed into two barriers of an entrepreneurs

success that tend to go hand in hand. The first is an entrepreneurs tendency to overestimate their
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abilities. In one part of Scar Tissue Event Twenty-One: Controlling the Ego, Erdman praises a

situation in which entrepreneur and founder of Medtronic, Earl Bakken, reaches a critical

crossroad in his venture and with a healthy balance of his ego, could overcome it successfully.

Once he came into recognition that as a leader, his management skills were not adequate to suit

his companys needs, Bakken took it upon himself to listen to wise counsel and appoint another

individual as his companys president to attribute the skills he lacked (Erdman, 224).

Overestimating how capable one is at something, such as running a business, has a domino effect

on the second barrier to reaching successthe reluctance of seeking help when needed. Erdman

supports this claiming that value simply cannot be created without the help of others (Erdman,

221). Overvaluing skills, knowledge and experience which turns into a unwillingness to seek

help, are negative outcomes of an unbalanced and unhealthy dosage of ego. Part of what helped

Dr. Berrys dental practice grow was her strength of character and egocentric control within that

gave her the courage to ask for help along the way rather than attempting it all on her own. To

this day, Dr. Berry still uses the same accountant for her lack of financial management skills in

addition to the range of other resources she uses such as her HR director, the office managers to

help her run and oversee different practices and even her kids for the purpose of social media

knowledge such as setting up her companys Facebook page. As Erdman says, there are

countless entrepreneurs who recognize that their skills are not necessarily applicable in the later

stages of growth (191) which is why entrepreneurs who hold back their egos have a greater

chance of success.

While one side of the argument comes to terms regarding the positive aspects of

egocentric delusions, it can also be perceived in a negative sense when an entrepreneurs super-

ego fortifies unrealistic visions and impossible goals. Erdman states that long term success is
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connected to how an entrepreneur communicates and aligns his or her goals and decisions across

the impacted constituencies, or those who they will be providing support for implementation

(222). Boasting too much ego when communicating and aligning objectives that are clearly

unrealistic, is when the entrepreneurs delusional thinking starts to become a hindrance. Unless

the delusion is taking place in the initial brainstorming stage and has the potential to bring to life

a revolutionary idea, the entrepreneur will come off as incompetent and unpractical in what they

are looking to do. This can pose as a huge risk to the impacted constituencies and therefore

reprimand their support behind implementing the entrepreneurial venture. Dr. Berrys

levelheaded mentality can be credited for a large part of her success. Her self-effacing ambitions

seemed to be kept in line with what she knew was possible. Dr. Berry never strived for anything

less than she knew she was capable of but at the same time believed she had what it takes to

establish a successful dental practice and for this reason kept her ego modest but poised as she

grew her practice at a rate she could handle.

Dr. Zina Berry is a one of a kind entrepreneur. Whether she knew beforehand the

importance of controlling the ego when she set out to grow her business with humble

expectations or whether it was just her way of nature due to the unprivileged childhood she had

or social adversities she endured, doesnt matter in the end. What matters is how she continued to

live everyday with her head held high but not to the extent of going in over her head.

Unfortunately, this not the case for other entrepreneurs who end up learning this lesson after its

too late which Daryl Erdman attempts to forewarn in Scar Tissue lesson number twenty-one

Controlling the Ego. For the most part, the meaning of the ego is typically used in a negative

context even though there are some aspects of it that are considered positive. The controversy

that develops around an individuals egocentric characteristics and behavior in entrepreneurship

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is not so much one or the other, right or wrong, good or bad. Its about finding the middle ground

and striking a healthy balance of ego somewhere in between. Entrepreneurs can only be as

successful as their ego allows them to be.

Works Cited:

Berry, Zina, Dr. "The Dilemma of Growth: Is Growth Good or Bad and How Will I Know?"
Entrepreneurship Debates and Dilemmas. Syracuse, NY, Whitman School of
Management. 04 Oct. 2016. Lecture.

Erdman, Daryl. Scar Tissue: Lessons from the World of Entrepreneurship. 1st ed. Minneapolis:
BRIO, 2010. Print.

Horsager, David. "You Can't Be a Great Leader Without Trust. Here's How You Build
It." Forbes Leadership Forum. Forbes.com, 24 Oct. 2014. Web.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/10/24/you-cant-be-a-great-
leader-without-trust-heres-how-you-build-it/#3d33efe37a48

Silverstein, Ray. "Is Your Ego Becoming a Liability?" Entrepreneur.com. N.p., 26 July 2010.
Web. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/207642

Toren, Matthew. "Why a Big Ego Isn't Always Bad." Entrepreneur.com. N.p., 05 June 2014.
Web. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234496

Mamas, Michael. "Ego: Is Bigger Actually Better?" Entrepreneur.com. N.p., 19 Sept. 2016.
Web. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/281170

Venn, Will. "Confidence and Creativity Equal Success." Unisa.edu.au. University of South
Australia News, 14 Oct. 2014. Web.
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/unisanews/2014/October/story2.asp