25 Signs Your Ego Is Out of Control

A healthy dose of self-confidence is a very good thing for an entrepreneur... until it's not.

Flickr/simonella_virus

Confidence, faith, an unswerving belief in self... all are important to an entrepreneur. But if you think or say any of the following, it's possible your self-confidence has grown to a dangerous level:

1. You've never lost a sale. But you have met a bunch of really, really stupid people.

2. There are two kinds of people in the world: Losers, and you.

3. You never misspeak. Employees mis-hear.

4. You think Brad Pitt would be a good choice to play you in your life story... well, maybe the young Brad Pitt.

5. You think Apple's design aesthetic is totally overrated.

6. Employees who think you play God are wrong. You're too busy for recreation.

7. When Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook he had already missed three of your friend requests.

8. You think one plus one equals four, because it's all about the value-add.

9. You quit investing in stocks because the market is always wrong.

10. You think Andrew Ross Sorkin came up with the title "Too Big to Fail" after meeting you.

11. Your employees who want raises aren't sufficiently grateful for the opportunity to learn from you.

12. You think you created the Internet. (Wait; that makes you Al Gore.)

13. You think input is what people get when they don't have a clue.

14. You feel buying a Porsche would send the wrong message, so you're waiting to order a Veyron.

15. You don't need an employee restroom because you don't take s*&# from anyone.

16. You sued an employee who tattooed the company logo on his arm for copyright infringement.

17. You would never allow a street to be named after you... because no one gets to cross you and live.

18. You don't attend family gatherings because everyone regrets not investing in your start-up when you pitched them.

19. You think Bill Gates was just lucky.

20. You only joined Twitter after you started to feel bad for depriving other people of your thoughts.

21. When people talk about the big picture, you think they're talking about you.

22. You don't tell people what you do because they'll just feel bad about themselves.

23. Other businesses aren't successful; they're just in markets you haven't entered. Yet.

24. Your building doesn't have clocks because you get to decide what time it is.

25. Myspace isn't a website, it's what you call everything you see.

Jeff Haden learned much of what he knows about business and technology as he worked his way up in the manufacturing industry. Everything else he picks up from ghostwriting books for some of the smartest leaders he knows in business. @jeff_haden