Ego in the arena

In sports, we often hear "He's got a huge ego, but at least he's got the skills and trophies to back it up." Anywhere else, ego won't even have that chance to prove its worth. Why?

“Sport is a sanctuary for ego… for the players. The high-performance practitioners behind the scenes need their egos as much as the players, but instead face the same dysfunction, confusion and conflict as any other high-pressure, high-output workplace.“

Ego powers the goals

Without the ego, there’s no drive, no performance and no reward. No goals, no baskets, no IPOs, no deals close, no victories on the court nor in the courtroom. When the ego does its job well, we go from one ambition and achievement to another. When the ego experiences rewards beyond the ordinary, it drives ambitions beyond the ordinary. Working at that level becomes natural because it feels natural, it feels right - because it is right.

Don't add to ego's bad PR

It’s when the ego loses touch with reality that we have conflicts, narcissists, outbursts… what we call Ego F*** Ups. Those are what most people think about when they hear a word that once simply meant “I,” but has become one of the most misunderstood words in the settings where it wields the most influence.

Your playbook for exercising your ego

Martin Buchheit and George Perry bring together over 100 of the world’s top high-performance sports practitioners, in addition to their own experiences in the sports industry. They explore the nature, role and importance of ego in the workplace, along with sharing insights into ego's successes and failures behind the scenes of the world's games.

Meet the EGOals team

Martin Buchheit

Sport performance scientist, researcher, consultant, Kitman Labs; formerly PSG, Aspire Academy and some cool handball teams. Ego is the enemy because mine drove me crazy and certain people I used to work with even more...

George Perry

Athlete performance coach, sports businessman and writer. US Navy veteran and law school dropout. Take care of your ego. Sometimes, it's the only friend you've got.

Christel Saneh

Athlete, artist, illustrator and photographer. Lebanon's national record holder in the long jump.

Why do we need EGOals?

This book won't make you an ego expert (we're not), but it shows a way for anyone in high-performance environments to avoid being a specialist in ego failure.

Fergus Connolly

Ego is always present and influential in our work. In fact, it's what got us here. We all have one, in its most helpful and u...

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Craig Duncan

This book by Martin and George is a must-read for anyone in the high-performance sports industry, and it will help you and th...

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Grant Downie, OBE

Any coach, practitioner, indeed any person working in a high performance environment will relate to many subjects discussed h...

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Available through Amazon

Buchheit and George Perry use these stories from the back rooms of professional sports to guide readers from any workplace ...