MAP and ego-merge
by Miki SaxonI’ve spent a good portion of this last week talking with an executive, call him Sam, who was terminated when his company reorganized to accommodate slowing growth in their core market.
Sam is devastated, more so because he is skilled, well-liked and ran a productive organization. It doesn’t matter that the termination had nothing to do with his performance, that he had no control or input on the decision, or that he already has two good offers for new positions.
Sam’s not unusual and his reaction is the result of something I call ego-merge, common in the past, but I really thought it was declining—unfortunately, it’s alive and well.
Ego-merge undermines your confidence and rocks your MAP.
Years ago, I wrote an article (the original article is gone, but I’ve linked to a future version of it) explaining ego-merge and how you can combat it. Take a moment to read it; it’s important to you—and to your people.
And if it’s something you’re dealing with and you’d like to talk, feel free to email me and we’ll arrange a time to talk.