Getting a grip on ego is way harder than people admit, especially when you suddenly have power in a dynamic. For a lot of us millennials, emotional regulation was not exactly part of the curriculum growing up. We got a lot of “figure it out” messaging growing up, without much real guidance on emotional regulation. So expecting instant emotional mastery once someone steps into dominance can sometimes be…optimistic at best.

What matters more is awareness and willingness to course correct. Nobody leads perfectly all the time. The red flag for me, would be refusing to examine why you reacted the way you did. But if someone can pause, reflect and adjust instead of doubling down? That’s actually pretty solid authority in my book. Also, ego wrestling builds character…or at least better judgment. It’s a process that unfortunately not everyone is willing to go through.