The Marvel cinematic universe is not just a superhero flick, but also a source of some great life lessons. I have always been a Marvel fan and Avengers: Age of Ultron has been one of my favorites, since it brings together a lot of my favorite super-heroes. One of the many lessons in this one is from the Ultron disaster. Just like how in a moment of overconfidence and ego, Tony Stark ended up creating a human- hating robot without paying heed to the warning of his friends, egotistical employees in an organization can be ticking time bombs of pain and misery. And so, we shouldn’t let the Tonys of our company overestimate their capabilities and create problems for the rest of the workforce.
Having to manage the huge ego of a work colleague while juggling multiple tasks and responsibilities in the office, can make your work from stressful to emotionally exhausting. And this is the last thing that anyone wants from a job that keeps a person occupied for more than 60% of the conscious day. But there are some quick things that you can do to keep things from becoming worse and navigating your way to a balanced workplace atmosphere.
Deal in facts. Instead of losing your cool, ask them for factual answers so that they know that you operate with fairness and not just give air to their vanity and ego.
Be firm and fair but ensure to hear them out. If you don’t hear them, they will keep talking over you. Then make it clear that you have heard them and communicate your decision and move your attention away from them.
Reinforce positive behaviour when possible. There are times when even this person wants to show restraint, and this is when you should appreciate them for making that effort as a colleague/manager so that this encourages them to repeat this positive behaviour next time.
Do not use uncertain words while interacting with them like ‘I feel…., I think…, I guess…’
Disengage when you can. If you feel the conversation is a time waster, quietly move away from it. No point causing yourself stress when it is not important.
Tony Stark all along had the best interest of mankind in heart. All he wanted to do by creating Ultron was to protect mankind from future alien invasions. But momentary ego did not let him listen to his friends and he ended up endangering the very mankind he aimed to protect. In this case, our beloved Ironman managed to save the day in the end. But in reality, such mistakes could be irreversible. Being consumed by ego, people fail to alter their opinions or review their thoughts and set in motion a series of actions which not only ruins the workplace atmosphere but also leads to collective failure.
In conclusion, remember that it can happen to anyone. There might be times when even your ego gets out of hand, and the problem of the workplace is suddenly you. And the best thing you can do to not be Tony in this scenario, is to not take the negative feedback to heart. You know you are falling into the trap of self-inflated ego when you are asking yourself ’What would the place do without me?’. And when you find yourself in this situation, the only thing you need to ask yourself is- ‘What would happen to the place without everyone else?’
P.S: Tony Stark a.k.a Iron Man is my favourite Marvel character! Unfortunately, he didn’t turn out to be the hero in this article.