Organizational Ego is the Enemy
Organizational Ego is the Enemy
And it's breaking down on the left
On June 5th, 2018, a Virginia National Guardsman stole an armored personnel carrier and led police on a two-hour chase from Fort Pickett. Fortunately, nobody got hurt. But after the police took the Soldier into custody, the embarrassment set in as a fellow Guardsman. Unbelievable, I thought to myself. And when the news showed a picture of First Lieutenant Joshua Yabut on the screen, I really couldn't believe it. I served with Yabut just a couple of years prior in an Illinois unit, and that's when my organizational ego took a gut punch.
Initially, most people probably thought this was a young drunk lower enlisted Soldier. Surprisingly enough, we learned it was an officer behind the wheel.
After the dust settled, Yabut was found not guilty by reason of insanity due to PTSD injuries. But at first, the act didn't look great for the National Guard, and it hurt our organizational ego.
We all have an individual ego, and some obsess over it more than others. And when we form long-term relationships with employers, we take on an organizational ego.
We take the behavior of our team personally.
Just think of your job, assuming you've been there a while. You have an idea of where your company fits in the world and consumers' perceptions.
But you're also affected by the negative actions of others within your ranks.
We have professional reputations, and our actions can affect others.
Consider the Jack in the Box E. Coli outbreak in 1993 that killed four people and hospitalized hundreds. Anyone working at the company level will likely think about it for the rest of their lives.
Not good for the next marketing campaign.
When we spotlight such organizations due to misconduct, some involved will mitigate their accountability, while others admit fault.
As I'm sure, they did at Jack in the Box.
And we're seeing the same thing today in the democratic party and government entities.
In the past week, we've not only heard claims from dissenting Democrats, but we've got the video to prove it.
Ego is the Enemy
Successful writer and media strategist Ryan Holiday wrote Ego is the Enemy to explain the human ego and its effects.
But the book doesn't use the term ego in a clinical sense. Rather, as the modern version of miscalculating our importance.
Holiday also notes how social media and the modern world maximize our egos.
For example, we live in a world based on credentials. Where did you go to school? What's your title? How many awards do you have?
Social media pushes it further by giving us a 24-hour update of not only individual accolades but also of our companies progress.
So when your team succeeds, you get the credit, but you also get the stigma when it fails.
So now, not only do we have an individual ego problem, but an organizational ego to maintain as well.
And that's what we're seeing with the democratic party and government entities right now.
Democratic incompetence reached a level where people decided that saving our country is more important than maintaining their organizational egos of being on the "party of compassion."
Organizational Ego Breaking Down in US Border Patrol
I've heard some dumb things come out of the mouths of lieutenants addressing a platoon. Or captains rambling to companies, and so on.
But I would never secretly record one and share it with anyone. Not unless my unit endangered the public.
And that's what happened in Laredo, Texas. In January, an un-named US Border Patrol Agent recorded Chief Raul Ortiz speaking about low morale among their ranks.
In the exclusive video to Fox News, agents openly criticize the Chief and their role in the immigration problem.
One agent said to Ortiz:
"For evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. That's exactly what's happening here. Good men are doing nothing. You're allowing illegal aliens to be dropped off in communities."-Unknown USBP Agent
The comment referred to claims of federal entities taking unknown people from Mexico and releasing them in the US.
But Ortiz, instead of taking accountability, deflected by repeating empty rhetoric.
Such as telling the agents that they're important, and that last year they got more Fentanyl off the streets than ever before.
One agent responded by telling Ortiz that they saw more Fentanyl deaths than ever last year.
Confiscating more drugs is because of more people crossing the border, not successful border operations.
People like Ortiz show us that these leftist leaders really think we're stupid.
It takes courage to admit your law enforcement agency breaks the law and puts Americans at risk, which challenges the agents' organizational ego.
But by turning their backs on their leadership, the actions of US Border Patrol agents show us they're committed to doing the right thing when their leaders aren't.
Airport Bodycam
At the Laredo, TX briefing where Border Agents stood up to their "leader," they mentioned dropping illegals off in the US.
But this isn't a conspiracy theory. We have video proof:
Received by FOIA request, New York gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino shared bodycam footage from Westchester police during such an incident.
In the video, local police inquired with federal agents or contractors about why they landed after the airport closed.
More importantly, they wanted to know who they brought with them.
Instead of a reasonable explanation, the unknown government goons replied with: "You're trying to figure out what's going on here? Good luck with that."
When police pressed, a man said, "You know what's going on here, look who's in charge." and "If word gets out, the government is betraying the American people."
Wow.
While a FOIA request secured the bodycam footage instead of a leak, this is still an example of a breakdown of organizational ego, I think.
The local cops recording this footage could have said, "I'm sure it's fine," and went back to playing Candy Crush.
But they know it is their job and it's also their problem, it's all of our problems. Their job is to protect.
Not only can we credit the Westchester police with investigating, but they also pried for information, where the contractors confirmed police suspicions.
Organizational Ego Dissolving at the Party Level
It's not just the fuzz raising awareness. We're seeing the democratic party set their self-pride aside, too.
In another Fox News exclusive video, an ex-Biden supporter gives a scathing message to his fellow Democrats:
Isiah Carter didn't put a Biden-Harris sign in his lawn, plan to vote for them, and call it a day.
Carter actively worked on the Biden-Harris campaign and even appeared in the Biden victory video "America the Beautiful."
In the 4.5 minute video, Carter shares his disgust with the Biden administration's failures.
"Refugees falling from C-117s to their deaths will haunt this presidency, and this country for decades to come," Carter said.
But this was the most damning:
"The fact that I, a blue-collar democratic worker, am speaking to Fox News should scare you and scare the rest of our party. The fact that they're (Fox News) willing to talk to me, and MSNBC and CNN are not, that is a problem, and that should tell you all how far we've fallen from the common man." -Isiah Carter.
It must be difficult to put your organizational ego aside and admit that. We should commend him for it.
Moving Forward
We all screw up. The question is how to move forward. Some people on the right say they don't have any sympathy for people with voters remorse.
But it beats the alternative of people clinging to these leftist ideals like so many do.
We should embrace these people who speak out and put their organizational and individual egos aside.
Because that's what it takes to make positive change.
If we make it difficult for people to stand up to groups that perpetrate Biden's illegal activities, we shouldn't be surprised when people stay quiet.
With the country in crisis, we have to help each other to the lifeboats. Once we get to shore, we can go back to arguing about policies.
But right now, we don't have a policy problem. We have a freedom problem.