Do You Need to Quieten Your Ego? with Heidi Wayment

Nov 22, 2018

Heidi Wayment, a social psychology professor at Northern Arizona University and co-author of Transcending Self-Interest, discusses the impact of the ego on workplace dynamics. She explains what a 'quiet ego' is and its importance for well-being and collaboration. Heidi also shares insights on how fear can trigger a noisy ego and the role of self-compassion in quieting it. Fascinatingly, she describes innovative strategies being employed in the US military to help leaders manage their egos effectively, ensuring better team performance and resilience.

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INSIGHT

Quiet Ego Is Balanced Selfhood

A quiet ego balances personal goals with others' needs instead of eliminating the self.
It reduces defensiveness while keeping initiative and drive intact.

INSIGHT

Four Pillars Of The Quiet Ego

The quiet ego rests on four interrelated values: detached awareness, interdependence, perspective taking, and growth mindedness.
These values cluster together and reduce defensiveness toward self and others.

ADVICE

Interrupt Your Noisy Ego Quickly

Expect noisy-ego reactions like fear and defensiveness; the goal is to not stay there long.
Use varied tools (mindfulness, nature, volunteering) to interrupt and mute noisy responses.

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Dr. Heidi Wayment is a professor of social psychology at Northern Arizona University, whose research interests include psychological processes related to self-identity, self-evaluation, health behavior, and coping with stressful life events. Heidi is the co-author of Transcending Self-interest: Psychological Explorations of the Quiet Ego and has published nearly a dozen papers related to her research on this topic. In 2018, her work was recognized by a University as the most significant research in scholarly work.

In this episode, we explore how our egos shape our relationships, performance, and wellbeing at work. Heidi shares the simple steps we can take to quieten a noisy ego when needed, and how to avoid overplaying our quiet egos at work.

Connect with Heidi Wayment:

Website: Heidi Wayment - Northern Arizona University

You'll Learn:

[02:20] - Heidi explains the quiet ego and how it can impact our performance and wellbeing at work.
[04:23] - Heidi outlines the four characteristics of a quiet ego and how these can be applied in workplaces.
[08:56] - Heidi helps us understand how fear, uncertainty, and dissatisfaction can trigger our noisy egos.
[12:43] – Heidi explores how self-compassion can help us to quieten our noisy egos.
[15:55] - Heidi shares a new approach being taken in the US Military to teach leaders and their teams to quieten their egos when needed.
[22.32] - Heidi explores how we can avoid overplaying our quiet egos at work.
[24:55] - Heidi Completes the Lightning round.

Your Resources:

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Until next time, take care! Thank you Heidi!