wikipedia: “The id, ego, and super-ego are the divisions of the psyche according to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud’s “structural theory”. The id contains “primitive desires” (hunger, rage, and sex), the super-ego contains internalized norms, morality and taboos, and the ego mediates between the two and may include or give rise to the sense of self.”
As someone who is self-employed, and whose livelihood depends on selling aspects of his personality, I frequently find myself in a dilemma around ‘ego’. It’s hard to portray what it is that I do or that I offer, and for people to decide whether to call on me, without putting a bit of myself ‘out there’. But in doing so, there are a whole group of people who will believe I am an egotistical, selfish, and self-focused maniac.
My coaching and consulting work is informed by my psychotherapeutic training, and so I take it to supervision. Hopefully, there any tendency for my own needs and desires (reflected in ‘ego’) will be spotted and alternative ways of looking at a situation will emerge. But it remains an issue.
Of course, there are many (I’d guess the vast majority) of coaches and consultants, who are blissfully unaware or unconcerned about these things, but they DO matter to me.
Writing this blog has got to raise the question “Why?” in a few minds too. Is it ego or is it a valid form of raising my head above the parapet in the marketing sense?
I guess I will return to the question of what it is that I ‘sell’, but for the time being, I just wanted to raise the issue so no-one could say I wasn’t, at least, aware of it.
Best wishes
