Lucille Ball, of the once-famous The Lucy Show, had said: “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.” Nay, no. Not everything falls in line. It is dependent upon how an individual manages the “ego” that consistently whispers, “you are the best”.

At school, when for the first time I heard from Bro. Felix a quote, rather an adage, “when Rome was burning Nero was dancing”, I had begun to realise how important it is for Leadership to remain aligned to reality, rather than live in a make-believe world of ‘all is well’.

Actually, Nero, the fifth Roman Emperor, I think, was intelligent; he knew the power of self-deception. If he had nursed himself with the pain and sorrow of what was happening in Rome, he would have missed the opportunity to play the fiddle from the rooftop. He truly believed his calling was in theatrics, something the Senate abhorred, but the masses loved it. He was deposed, and later he committed suicide at age thirty. His self-love cost him his emperorship.

There are many subscribers in the political and corporate world today to Nero’s mythical thought and action. No leader considers it selfish to self-project himself or herself as a giant, rather than the real pygmy they actually are.

An overestimation of self leads to the quest for applause from the........

© The Nation