PRIDE - Sabotages Business Success

This is part of a mini-series exploring the 7 Deadly Sins aka “Thinking Habits.” As an aid to busy business owners and entrepreneur, we can self reflect and increase our empathy, self compassion and emotional intelligence. Building stronger inner psychology to build a stronger business.

PRIDE

As business owners and entrepreneurs there’s an emotional rush, a feel good factor called ‘pride’ when we achieve our goals.

Imagine bottling the burst of euphoria you get from watching your child win a prize at school. Or when you receive an industry award.

We experience numerous satisfying moments on the business building journey. And it’s great to pat yourself on the back. However is there a tipping point? When does this feel-good feeling swing the other way?

Healthy Pride

Healthy pride is a positive emotion that drives us to do better. It's the sense of satisfaction that comes from achieving our goals, and we rightly pat ourselves on the back for a ?job well done.

Alternative Words: confidence, self-esteem, self-respect, dignity, self-worth

As we strive for excellence, healthy pride motivates us to take action, create positive change, and continuously improve our business.

Short Story: ?Pride is like a shield, it can protect us from criticism and doubt, but it can also blind us to our weaknesses and prevent us from growing.

Unhealthy Pride

This type of pride is detrimental to business and personal relationships. Characterised by arrogance, a sense of entitlement, and an over-inflated sense of self-importance. It leads to poor decisions and alienates co-workers and loved ones.

Excessive pride creates a surge of superiority and invincibility. And can stop us seeking help or receiving feedback. Because of intense feelings of shame and embarrassment from feeling a failure whn mistakes are made.

Short Story: Pride is like a mirror, it can reflect our best qualities and achievements, but it can also distort our perception and create illusions.

Ugly pride is a gremlin that tramples over relationships with clients, customers, senior leadership teams and co-workers. It also trickles back into personal and family relationships.

It leads to arrogance and a lack of humility. Our ego becomes overinflated, and we start believing we're better than others.

10 Signs of Unhealthy Pride

Other people find it easier to spot this in us, because we have a blind-spot. Some indicators of excessive pride include:

1. Becoming defensive or dismissive when receiving feedback or criticism.
2. Difficulty accepting help or delegating tasks.
3. Believing that one is always right and refusing to consider other perspectives.
4. Disregarding the opinions and feelings of others.
5. A constant need for validation and recognition.
6. Hinders ability to listen to feedback: If we're convinced we know everything and are always right, we're unlikely to listen to feedback from others.
7. Creates a toxic work environment: Putting others down or taking credit for their work leads to low morale, decreased productivity, and a high staff turnover.
8. Prevents collaboration with others: Because we believe we're the only one who gets things right. It limit opportunities to learn from others, and prevents utilising the diverse talents and team expertise.
9. Fear of failure: If we're overly concerned with maintaining an image of perfection, we're likely to avoid taking risks and trying new things. This prevents learning and growth, plus limits innovation and staying ahead of the competition.
10. Overvaluing Product or Service: It's difficult to objectively evaluate strengths and weaknesses. Making it difficult to make improvements or adapt to changes in the market.

How to Overcome Unhealthy Pride

Here are some tips for overcoming unhealthy pride and fostering a more positive and supportive work environment.

1. Seek feedback from others: This supports personal and business growth & development. Be open to constructive criticism and be willing to make changes based on feedback.
2. Collaborate with others: Recognize the strengths and expertise of others and work together to achieve common goals.
3. Learn from failure: It’s a natural part of the learning process. Embrace it as an opportunity to learn and grow, and use it to make improvements. Mistakes and failures are opportunities for personal growth. Play to strengths, find others to compensate for weaknesses.
4. Practice humility: No one is perfect and you really don't know everything. Be open to learning from others. Admit when you're wrong. Accept help from others. Recognise and show appreciation to the team for the combined team contribution.
5. Alternative behaviours: ?humility, modesty, selflessness, be of service.
6. Cultivate empathy: Consider the perspectives and feelings of others. Understand everyone has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Work to create a supportive and collaborative work environment.
7. Stay Grounded: Remember why you started your business and what your goals are. Focus on your mission and values, and avoid getting caught up in external validation or recognition.
8. Connect with Loved Ones: Make time for your family and loved ones and work to strengthen those relationships. Remember that success in business 'means nothing' if it comes at the cost of your personal life.

PERSPECTIVE’S FROM THE AUDIENCE

Michelle Steiner Pinterest Strategist shared her views about Social Media: She said some people use social media to seek validation and approval from others. Michelle encouraged business owners to look within themselves for self-worth rather than relying on external sources.

Adrian Williams shared it's essential to have pride in one's work. But an over-inflated sense of self-worth is detrimental to business and personal relationships. Humility is necessary for growth and development, whilst remaining open to learning from mistakes and receiving feedback.

Camille Jones shared that unhealthy pride can limit our potential for personal and business success. When some individuals perceive an opportunity as too small to pursue, it leads to missed opportunities for development, learning and growth.

CONCLUSION

• Pride is a natural emotion and can be positive or negative, depending on how it's managed.
• It's important to recognize the signs of unhealthy pride. And practice, humility, empathy and focus on one's mission and values.
• By doing so, business owners can achieve success whilst maintaining strong relationships with their coworkers and loved ones.

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AUDIO ROOM COMING UP! Episode 3 : ENVY & LUST

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