Ego vs execution war story

Published about 1 year ago • 1 min read

Dear project managers and executives
You are not paid to referee ego wars.
You are paid to protect outcomes.

I have seen this many times.

And doubts and concerns freeze you like a bunny looking at the two lights of the car moving to you.

Look.

If you're witnessing a standoff between two inflated egos, do everyone a favor:
Remove them both—or at least the one you can control.

Will it feel disruptive? Yes.
Expensive? Maybe.
Unfair? Possibly.

But trust me... it’s a bargain compared to the cost of keeping them around.

I've seen projects lose millions because someone had to be right.
I’ve seen teams break, timelines collapse, and reputations tank—
Not because of risk or complexity...
But because no one had the guts to pull the ego out of the room.

Leadership is about subtraction.

Sometimes, the best move is cutting the wrong person at the right time.

More wisdom? Check below.

$99.90

The 15 Top Lessons of a PPP Project Nightmare

Learn about:
The number 1 killer of Projects
Why this was not going to be just "another construction project, mate"... Read more

Get those lessons now

PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day.

PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com

PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below.

This is why amateurs panic

My son is now obsessed with rockets. He wants to go to the moon. Good for him. We’ll get there very soon… again. If you don’t know the story of Apollo 13, you should pay attention… because it has lessons for you too. NASA did not become NASA because everything went perfectly. Quite the opposite. Rockets exploded. Calculations failed. Systems broke. People died. And every time something went wrong, they did one thing better than almost anyone else: They learned. Apollo 13 is the famous...

about 20 hours ago • 1 min read

Geniuses don’t make every mistake themselves

The Spanish did not conquer Peru only with steel, horses, and ambition. They also arrived with something much more powerful. Lessons learned. Before Peru, there was Mexico. Before Pizarro, there was Cortés. Before Atahualpa, there was Moctezuma. The Spanish had already seen what worked. They had seen how alliances with local enemies could change the entire game. They had seen how psychological pressure could be more powerful than numbers. They had seen how confusion, speed, diplomacy,...

2 days ago • 1 min read

6 minutes per useless slide

If your team spends more time on format than content… Your company… Your project… Your leadership… Has a problem. A big one. “Not professional.” “Not following the brand guidelines.” “My boss will not approve it.” “My client will not approve it.” Trust me. A well-written, well-structured memo in a blank Word document with no logo can do maravillas. The fanciest PowerPoint with no substance only does one thing: It extends useless meetings at a rate of 6 minutes per slide. Minimum. The excuses...