What's Right Not Who's Right

As ambitious, high–performing humans there’s a lot we want to get done in a day. We hold ourselves to high standards and expect that we give our very best as often as we can. Ultimately what this means is we want to play a part in creating the best outcomes possible, whether that be in the impact of our own lives or in collaboration with others.

With that end goal in place, we need to recognize the very human elements of ourselves....

We all have an ego that is constantly trying to make things about ourselves. We want to establish and confirm our place in the tribe, and feel better about the quality of our existence relative to others. 

That’s why we find ourselves constantly comparing, criticizing, and judging. It’s the ego's natural state.

One of the challenges of the ego is that it gets in the way of us achieving the outcomes we’d like to see. We want to hit our new fitness goal as we’re getting back in the habit, but we’re influenced by someone else who's in better shape and set goals that are unsustainable. We want to find the best fit solution at work but we’re holding on to our idea or our way of doing it, delaying progress.

To clarify the role of the ego in this - In order to feel better about ourselves we unknowingly make decisions that don’t lead to the best outcomes.

In the face of the ego and the emotions it arouses, we can commit to a simple intention. It’s about what’s right and not who’s right. In other words, it’s about doing what’s best for the desired outcome rather than what you want to do, knowing that what you want to do is biased by the ego.

So the next time you find yourself emotionally invested in something, pull out this intention and remind yourself of how you want to show up in the moment. It’s about what’s right, not who’s right. Build that into your personal culture and you’ll start making decisions that are in integrity with who you want to be more often.

While we’re on our individual pursuits to become the best versions of ourselves, it’s important to recognize the limitations we have. If you want to join me in leading this space forward, share this article with a friend, boss, co-worker, or family member that you think would find value in it!