E84 Ego, Boundaries, and Conscious Leadership with Eric Kaufmann

At some point you realize your biggest leadership constraint is not your strategy or your skill set. It is how you show up when your ego gets involved.

In this episode of The Mike Method, Mike Desjardins sits down with Eric Kaufmann, chairman of the board at Dr. Bronner’s, executive coach to leaders at Verizon, Facebook, SunPower, and Circle, and creator of the Conscious Operating System, a framework for helping leaders see the patterns that quietly shape their decisions and relationships.

Eric brings together executive rigor and decades of Zen training to explore ego myopia, the habit of losing awareness of ego in real time and how it can weaken trust, feedback, and collaboration. Mike and Eric talk through why people pleasing becomes a hidden power leak, how boundaries and clear requests create healthier teams, and why “say more” might be one of the most effective leadership moves you can make.

The conversation also unpacks the three ego needs leaders often carry: the need to be right, the need to be liked, and the need to have might, along with the upgrade path Eric teaches through wisdom, love, and innate power.

In this episode, we explore

• What ego myopia looks like in daily leadership
• How feedback and self-awareness reveal blind spots
• The cost of defaulting to yes and how to set clean boundaries
• Curiosity as an alternative to defensiveness and certainty
• Making your yes a full body yes instead of a quiet obligation

If this episode resonated with you, consider sharing it with someone who leads alongside you.

Episode Resources:

Eric Kaufmann: LinkedIn

Four Virtues of a Leader by Erin Kaufmann

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