“**The worst disease which can afflict business executives in their work is not, as popularly supposed, alcoholism; it’s egotism**,” [[Geneen]] famously said. "In the [[Mad Men]] era of corporate America, there was a major drinking problem, but **ego has the same roots—insecurity, fear, a dislike for brutal objectivity.** “Whether in middle management or top management, unbridled personal egotism blinds a man to the realities around him; more and more he comes to live in a world of his own imagination; and **because he sincerely believes he can do no wrong, he becomes a menace to the men and women who have to work under his direction**,” he wrote in his memoirs. ([Location 1201](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01AWUTMB0&location=1201)) --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[ego]], [[culture]], [[self-reflection]], [[crucial-conversations]], [[humility]], [[leadership]], [[management]], [[alcohol]] **Source** -- [[202409161103 - B - Ego is the Enemy]]