"Having strong views" and being an "egoist" are two different things.
An egoist may not have strong views on anything. Here, I wish to distinguish between "pushing one's views - whether substantial or not, or wishes or whims; strongly upon others" and having dedication or commitment towards certain views.
An egoist will push his views on others; whether or not he knows much about what he believes in.
Having strong views implies that a person is committed to those views. For example, a person may have strong views about "vegetarianism," "anti-smoking," "corruption," etc.
Hope the distinction is amply clear.
I shall illustrate it further with a few examples. Anna Hazare has strong views against corruption. But is he an "egoist"? Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi had strong views on "Ahimsa (Non-violence)" and "Truth." But, can we call him an "egoist"?
There are other examples too: Adolf Hitler had strong views on the "supremacy of his race" and on "Jews," and he was also an "egoist"!! Your boss may not know about anything or any issues, but he may force you to do something out of his ego and the power he holds over you.
I hope it helps clarify the matter and puts these terms in their proper perspective. Warm regards.
From India, Delhi
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1497An egoist may not have strong views on anything. Here, I wish to distinguish between "pushing one's views - whether substantial or not, or wishes or whims; strongly upon others" and having dedication or commitment towards certain views.
An egoist will push his views on others; whether or not he knows much about what he believes in.
Having strong views implies that a person is committed to those views. For example, a person may have strong views about "vegetarianism," "anti-smoking," "corruption," etc.
Hope the distinction is amply clear.
I shall illustrate it further with a few examples. Anna Hazare has strong views against corruption. But is he an "egoist"? Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi had strong views on "Ahimsa (Non-violence)" and "Truth." But, can we call him an "egoist"?
There are other examples too: Adolf Hitler had strong views on the "supremacy of his race" and on "Jews," and he was also an "egoist"!! Your boss may not know about anything or any issues, but he may force you to do something out of his ego and the power he holds over you.
I hope it helps clarify the matter and puts these terms in their proper perspective. Warm regards.
From India, Delhi
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Good question, dear.
A strong view from a person is not an ego. If others think his view is good, then it looks good. If it is not liked by someone, it's called ego. It really depends on the thoughts of others and how others understand.
From India, Guntur
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A strong view from a person is not an ego. If others think his view is good, then it looks good. If it is not liked by someone, it's called ego. It really depends on the thoughts of others and how others understand.
From India, Guntur
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Strong views, ego, and rigidity often go hand in hand, although they each have different meanings and the context of the situation will also matter a lot. These words need to be used very carefully.
Chances are that a person with no views can also be egoistic. Somebody has already suggested it.
One never calls oneself egoistic. It is often the opinion of others about the individual based on their perceptions, experiences, and circumstances.
Dr. Ulhas Ganu has brought up a very important point of 'threshold'. Based on individual threshold levels and other circumstances, someone is labeled as egoistic. However, as Dr. Ganu mentioned, there will be a lot of variation in individuals' threshold levels.
From India, Pune
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Chances are that a person with no views can also be egoistic. Somebody has already suggested it.
One never calls oneself egoistic. It is often the opinion of others about the individual based on their perceptions, experiences, and circumstances.
Dr. Ulhas Ganu has brought up a very important point of 'threshold'. Based on individual threshold levels and other circumstances, someone is labeled as egoistic. However, as Dr. Ganu mentioned, there will be a lot of variation in individuals' threshold levels.
From India, Pune
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Interesting discussion. Taj and Ulhas have provided a lot of perspective, and Raj has helped refine it.
I had a discussion with a client, and he called me a 'sophisticated bully!' He said that I never entered into verbal fights, but I had such strong views and even stronger substantiation that the other person felt 'bullied' as they had limited choice but to accept the strong logic. I guess I am on a thin line after re-reading the posts :-)
From United States, Daphne
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I had a discussion with a client, and he called me a 'sophisticated bully!' He said that I never entered into verbal fights, but I had such strong views and even stronger substantiation that the other person felt 'bullied' as they had limited choice but to accept the strong logic. I guess I am on a thin line after re-reading the posts :-)
From United States, Daphne
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Hello Nikhil,
I can understand what the client feels and why.
You must be a person with a well-modulated voice, a strong tone of a confident person who knows his subject well, and has the art of preparing evidence-based presentations (with references) so that no one can nullify the argument or proposition. Since yours is a client relationship and not an employer-employee relationship and still he wanted to continue with you, to me it is like his wanting to have a rose without the thorns.
As a scientist, we were always encouraged by our boss to speak on topics of discussion openly and fearlessly and express our opinions.
As a consultant in corporates, I found that the CEOs, MD, or chairman have their own hidden agenda (as we never know the real prices or profit margins). If they propose a point which is opposed by honest and committed people primed by being brought up from prime institutions, they get uncomfortable. The insult many times is not so much in failing but rather it being known by people, who may laugh.
We had similar problems with our customers. I had a discussion with my colleague, Gopal Iyer, on this and we branded the syndrome with a mnemonic as 'ACHES' (A: Ability, C: Commitment, H: Honesty, and E for that uninhibited expression by us which was sometimes uncomfortable to clients in open meetings but not so when talked one to one as his/her ego is not attacked in front of juniors). The S represented success for which to accrue, the ache is necessary.
Then we decided a policy to have a personal brief with top management (CEO or MD) before a group meeting to refine the agenda.
In medicine, pain is a non-parametric parameter as thresholds of different people vary. They cannot be analyzed statistically. These can be converted to parametric (measurable) by a scale. There are many visual analogue scales (VAS) to express pain or heat by patients.
This discussion and your observations of borderline ego prompted me to try and develop a scale for ego. I have used Prof. Ravi's Poovia's (IIT) signage for it. They are fantastic (great job). I don't know if all symbols I used are apt in the ego scale but could be closer to the meaning. There is no copyright on it.
Dr. Ulhas Ganu
From India, Mumbai
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I can understand what the client feels and why.
You must be a person with a well-modulated voice, a strong tone of a confident person who knows his subject well, and has the art of preparing evidence-based presentations (with references) so that no one can nullify the argument or proposition. Since yours is a client relationship and not an employer-employee relationship and still he wanted to continue with you, to me it is like his wanting to have a rose without the thorns.
As a scientist, we were always encouraged by our boss to speak on topics of discussion openly and fearlessly and express our opinions.
As a consultant in corporates, I found that the CEOs, MD, or chairman have their own hidden agenda (as we never know the real prices or profit margins). If they propose a point which is opposed by honest and committed people primed by being brought up from prime institutions, they get uncomfortable. The insult many times is not so much in failing but rather it being known by people, who may laugh.
We had similar problems with our customers. I had a discussion with my colleague, Gopal Iyer, on this and we branded the syndrome with a mnemonic as 'ACHES' (A: Ability, C: Commitment, H: Honesty, and E for that uninhibited expression by us which was sometimes uncomfortable to clients in open meetings but not so when talked one to one as his/her ego is not attacked in front of juniors). The S represented success for which to accrue, the ache is necessary.
Then we decided a policy to have a personal brief with top management (CEO or MD) before a group meeting to refine the agenda.
In medicine, pain is a non-parametric parameter as thresholds of different people vary. They cannot be analyzed statistically. These can be converted to parametric (measurable) by a scale. There are many visual analogue scales (VAS) to express pain or heat by patients.
This discussion and your observations of borderline ego prompted me to try and develop a scale for ego. I have used Prof. Ravi's Poovia's (IIT) signage for it. They are fantastic (great job). I don't know if all symbols I used are apt in the ego scale but could be closer to the meaning. There is no copyright on it.
Dr. Ulhas Ganu
From India, Mumbai
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Hi Ulhas,
Interesting post. I was referring to a one-to-one with the CEO/MD, and this was his observation :-)
But I liked the framework. Let me see if I can use it effectively. Thanks for sharing that.
Regards,
Nikhil
From United States, Daphne
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Interesting post. I was referring to a one-to-one with the CEO/MD, and this was his observation :-)
But I liked the framework. Let me see if I can use it effectively. Thanks for sharing that.
Regards,
Nikhil
From United States, Daphne
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Dear Nikhil,
I converted this page into a PDF. It's a white paper now. If you want to access the same for any other threads, here's the path: Go to the printable option, get the content on one page, save the HTML version on Desktop, and then convert it to PDF!
Congratulations to everyone who contributed!
Regards,
(Cite Contribution)
From India, Mumbai
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I converted this page into a PDF. It's a white paper now. If you want to access the same for any other threads, here's the path: Go to the printable option, get the content on one page, save the HTML version on Desktop, and then convert it to PDF!
Congratulations to everyone who contributed!
Regards,
(Cite Contribution)
From India, Mumbai
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That was a beautiful idea (Cite Contribution). But the flow could have been more consistent if irrelevant postings, like that of kavitabhatia30 - asking 'how to post a new thread,' could have been deleted in the PDF.
Nevertheless, a nice thing to save for the future, I would say :-)
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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Nevertheless, a nice thing to save for the future, I would say :-)
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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